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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/sfl-riobrjan27,0,524424,print.story
A survival guide to carnival in Rio
By MICHAEL ASTOR
The Associated Press
January 27, 2008
Everyone knows Rio de Janeiro's carnival is supposed to be the greatestparty on Earth, but to many, the hordes of sweaty, scantily clad bodies ondisplay can be as intimidating as they are inviting.
The city's reputation for violence and the difficulties that arise from notspeaking Portuguese make it even more important that tourists get someguidance about how to jump in.
The locals have barely recovered from their New Year's hangovers and arealready preparing for the five-day-long, no-holds-barred pre-Lenten bashthat sweeps over this seaside city like a tidal wave.
Foreigners in the know are flocking to the hillside shantytowns, where thecity's top carnival groups hold weekly rehearsals to polish this year'stheme songs and to the Sambadrome stadium where free technical rehearsalsoffer a taste of the Samba parade with none of the glitter or glitz.
For the carnival itself, which takes place during the first five days ofFebruary this year, there are basically three ways to celebrate: party inthe street, watch the Samba parade from the stands or - for the trulyfleet-footed and daring - dance in the parade itself.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbcloset0127sbjan27,0,3723312,print.story
New thrift store in Wilton Manors funds HIV/AIDS services
Shop to help support HIV testing, research
BY ELIZABETH BAIER
January 27, 2008
Wilton Manors
Seasoned bargain hunters came for the deals: $3.99 cargo shorts, $2.99T-shirts, $2 pots and pans.
Health advocates came to encourage others to take advantage of free HIVtesting.
Gawkers stopped to see what the commotion was about.
After months of anticipation, more than 200 people attended the Saturdaymorning opening of Florida's first Out of the Closet, a national thriftstore chain operated by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation that benefitsHIV/AIDS medical care and research.
As dozens of pink and teal balloons drifted in the air and Diana Ross' I'mComing Out blasted from giant speakers, shoppers poured into the new shop at2097 Wilton Drive.
"This is so neat," said Dell Wright, 62, of Fort Lauderdale, who carried abasket filled with T-shirts to buy. "And it's so good to know that this isgoing to help so many people with AIDS."
Out of the Closet began 18 years ago in Los Angeles and has grown into achain of 18 stores around the country, according to Michael Weinstein,president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Proceeds from the Wilton Manorsshop, which includes a pharmacy, will help support free HIV testing, publicawareness campaigns and regular condom distribution, Weinstein said.
The foundation also plans to open a full-service clinic in North Miami inthe coming year, he said.
"South Florida really has one of the nation's largest hot spots of AIDS, butyou wouldn't know that's the situation here," Weinstein said. "It's kind oftreated as a dirty little secret."
An estimated 17,053 adults and children in Broward County were living withAIDS as of last August, according to the county Department of Health.
Jeff Mintzer 47, of Pembroke Park, attended Saturday's opening to transferhis prescription for two HIV medications to the store's new pharmacy. Doingso renewed his optimism, he said, since he had to stop buying the medicine amonth and a half ago because it was too expensive.
"It feels good," Mintzer said after learning he might qualify for discountedprescriptions. "Even though I have insurance, it's still a lot of money."
The opening of the national thrift store outlet and pharmacy comes twomonths after the Poverello Center, a long-standing Wilton Manors thriftshop, announced it would not accept new clients for its free food bank forat least three months because of funding cuts from Broward County's HIVHealth Services Planning Council.
Despite those financial struggles, Thomas Smith, Poverello's chief financialofficer, said he welcomes the opening of Out of the Closet.
"Competition is good for anyone," Smith said. "I don't think it's going tohurt anyone. Any time you have more thrift stores, more people come into thearea to go shopping."
Elizabeth Baier can be reached at ebaier@sun-sentinel.com
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Florida: From Caroline at Transgender Equality
It is good to know that some idiotic jackass namedCain Davis wrote the following letter to theGainesville Sun. You can see how wrong and off thetrack this guy is and strategically placed this adyesterday Friday. Any response and defense will belate. Hopefully people will show up in favor and the5-2 vote holds on.
Caroline
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www.gainesville.com/article/20080125/OPINION02/801250306
Gender ordinance misguided
On Jan. 28, your city commissioners will have anopportunity to vote on a gender identity ordinance.This ordinance is very important to our entirecommunity, but it is especially important to women,legal/law enforcement personnel, business owners andreligious leaders.
For example, the ordinance will allow men to enter anduse a female restroom with not just the right, but theprotection of the law. The city commissioners haveexempted the city from complying with the ordinance,but have chosen to subject small business owners andstruggling non-profit organizations with theresponsibility of having to build and/or renovatetheir facilities to include an additional restroom andpossibly other facilities.
Worse yet, once the restroom is built, the people forwhom it was built can refuse to use the newly builtrestroom and choose to use either the male or femalerestroom, based solely on how they feel.
We've all heard others talk about the shock women feelwhen they've mistakenly walked into a restroom ordressing room being cleaned by a male custodialworker. I can't imagine the trauma these same womenwill feel when they walk out of a restroom or dressingroom stall and find a male staring at them, knowingthe individual is within his legal rights if thisordinance passes.
The ordinance specifically speaks to the morals of thecommunity, thereby inviting input from individualssuch as religious leaders. I encourage you to bring aneighbor, members of your church, or social clubs tothe City Commission meeting on Jan. 28, at 5:30 p.m.and let your elected officials know how you feelregarding this ordinance.
Cain Davis, Gainesville
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/us/27baptists.html?scp=7&sq=gay&st=nyt
A Baptist Coalition Aims for Moderate Image
By NEELA BANERJEE
January 27, 2008
For more than 150 years, Baptists in the United States have splintered along political, theological and racial lines. But this week, some of the country'slargest Baptist groups - representing about 20 million believers - will meetto try to mend the old fractures and, some leaders say, present a morediverse and moderate image of their faith than the one offered by theconservative Southern Baptist Convention.
The three-day meeting of more than 30 groups - known as the New BaptistCovenant Celebration, which begins on Wednesday in Atlanta - is a result ofefforts by former President Jimmy Carter to draw together long-dividedBaptists.
The meeting's statement of shared purpose, known as its covenant, calls forBaptists to focus on their traditional values, like "sharing the gospel ofJesus Christ," and to work together on social issues like fighting poverty.It does not create a new denomination.
"I would like to see a demonstration that Christians who have differentbackgrounds and different political and theological orientations andgeographical locations can come together in the spirit of unity," Mr. Cartersaid, "not just for Baptists, but for Christians all over the world."
But for other Baptists and experts on the faith, a central aim of thegathering seems to be to create a theological and political counterweight tothe Southern Baptist Convention, which many of the groups that plan toattend have left.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-italy-government-left.html?scp=10&sq=gay&st=nyt
Italy's Center Left In Tatters After Prodi Quits
By REUTERS
Filed at 6:19 a.m. ET
January 27, 2008
ROME (Reuters) - Riven by deep policy divisions and personal rivalries,Italy's centre left is in tatters after the collapse of Romano Prodi'sgovernment and faces a likely drubbing if a snap election is called.
Prodi's resignation after several allies voted against him in the Senate wasnot just a defeat for the 68-year-old premier, but for the whole of his"suicidal" centre-left coalition, as one commentator put it.
"The problem for the centre left is that it comes out of this test reducedto shreds. It does not exist anymore, and the score-settling has not evenstarted yet," wrote Massimo Franco in an editorial in Corriere della Seranewspaper.
Throughout Prodi's 20 months in power, the nine-party,Catholics-to-communists coalition that allowed him to narrowly beat SilvioBerlusconi in the 2006 election offered a grim spectacle of infighting andmutual sabotage.
His so-called allies argued on just about everything, from foreign policy togay rights, from economic reforms to abortion.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/world/europe/25turkey.html?scp=17&sq=gay&st=nyt
Turkey to Alter Speech Law
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
January 25, 2008
IZMIR, Turkey - When Atilla Yayla, a maverick political science professor,offered a mild criticism of Turkey's first years as a country, his remarksunleashed a torrent of abuse.
"Traitor!" a newspaper headline shouted. His college dismissed him. Stateprosecutors in this western city, where he spoke, opened a criminal caseagainst him. His crime? Violating an obscure law against insulting thelegacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's founder.
"I need thoughts to counter my ideas," Mr. Yayla said. "Instead theyattacked me."
Turkey's government has taken on the issue of free speech and is expected asearly as Friday to announce a weakening of a law against insultingTurkishness, an amendment that is considered a key measure of the democraticmaturity of this Muslim country as it tries to gain acceptance to theEuropean Union.
But while that law, called Article 301, is known to many in the West - OrhanPamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist, was prosecuted under 301 -it is just one of many laws that limit freedom of expression forintellectuals in Turkey. The law under which Mr. Yayla was prosecuted, forexample, dates from 1951 and is not even part of the penal code.
more . . . . .
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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:
--
The same-sex couples in Texas who have children have lower household incomesand home ownership rates than heterosexual, married couples with children,according to a new study released on Thursday. The study, sponsored by theWilliams Institute at UCLA School of Law, found that, in Texas, the averagehousehold income for a same-sex couple with children is about $53,000, whilemarried couples with children have an average income of $67,500. Researchersanalyzed data from the 2000 U.S. census, comparing same-sex, "unmarriedpartner" households with different-sex, married couples.
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Same-sex marriage in Maryland could boost the state's ailing budget. That'saccording to an analysis from the Williams Institute at UCLA that saysMaryland could save $3.2 million a year if it extended marriage rights tosame-sex couples. About 7,800 of Maryland's same-sex couples would marry ifthe law allowed them to, the analysis found. Maryland has more than 15,600same-sex couples based on U.S. Census data.
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Boston: Police say [Daniel] Yakovleff's Jan. 17 death is underinvestigation, and they have released no information about motive orsuspects. But his death has sent a chill through the city's gay community.
Many gays say that in recent years they have felt more vulnerable toharassment, name calling, and assaults, particularly since the same-sexmarriage amendment debate in 2004 that put a spotlight on the community andunleashed anger from gay marriage opponents.
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says the high court judges,trained in law, could not specialize in making moral decisions for society.Scalia, 71, spoke Thursday at Mississippi State University. Among suchissues cited by Scalia were whether it was a woman's natural right to havean abortion, the right for one to marry another of the same sex or the rightto engage in certain sexual acts that are private and consensual. "What I amquestioning is the propriety, indeed, the sanity of letting value-ladendecisions such as these be made for the entire society," said Scalia.
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People who want to apply for marriage licenses in Iowa would need to meetresidency requirements under a new law being proposed by State Rep. DwayneAlons, R-Hull. Under Alons' proposal, at least one of the two peopleapplying for a marriage license would need to live in the state for one yearbefore becoming eligible. The bill is part of a simmering debate at thestatehouse this year over whether same-sex marriage should be allowed totake place in the state. The issue of gay marriage became a hot-button issuelast August, when Judge Robert Hanson ruled that the state's marriage law isunconstitutional and ordered Polk County to issue licenses to same-sexcouples. The decision is awaiting appeal at the Iowa Supreme Court. MostRepublican lawmakers want to give voters statewide a chance to go to thepolls and decide whether to altar the state constitution to define a legalmarriage as a union between a man and a woman.
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Church congregations from around the state are making a special effort thisweekend to welcome everyone, no matter how they relate to their sexualorientation or gender. The "Equality Sabbath" was originally planned as acelebration of the state's acknowledgment of the rights of Oregon's gay,lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities. With the new DomesticPartnership law on hold after a court challenge, Reverend Tara Wilkins ofthe Community of Welcoming Congregations says it's even more important forpeople of faith to make a stand. "The issue over gay and lesbian equalrights and discrimination is not a religious issue. It's an issue aboutprejudice and bigotry. Religious communities across faith traditions arelargely supportive."
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid51696.asp
My Life on the Gay List
The hardest working woman in showbiz made a career playing to gay men -- andin the process became one.
By Corey Scholibo
From The Advocate February 26, 2008
OK, I've got to admit it.
I was a little disappointed when I met Kathy Griffin. I know. Don't hate me.
When I arrived at her palatial Los Angeles estate, I was surprised to findthat I had only an hour with her before her trainer arrived-plenty of timeto conduct your standard celebrity interview-but I'd assumed that once Iarrived, my meticulously prepared questions would be thrown by the waysideas we curled up in her bed to watch Dancing With the Stars. Or perhaps she'dwant to skip out to the Four Seasons to show the world she was doing press,while we'd really be discussing Heather Mills's leg over dirty martinis.After all, this is a woman who once said she'd do an interview with a kittenif it would sell more tickets and who faked a drunken fall in the streets ofLondon in an attempt to get into the tabloids. So when The Advocate -- amagazine that arguably speaks best to her key demographic -- asked her foran interview, I expected something, well, more.
I was her third interview of the day. She had gotten up at 5 a.m. to do KTLATV's Morning Show to promote her already sold-out engagements at the KodakTheatre (you know, the place where they hold the Oscars). As Griffin'sassistant went to find her, I could see her Emmy on display with the winningenvelope and her crumpled-up acceptance speech, in which she famouslyannounced, "Jesus can suck it. This award is my god now." When she appearedshe was still wearing camera-ready makeup, too cakey for real life, and hersignature sparkly eye shadow was faded but holding up.
We had been scheduled to meet for this interview a week before, but Griffinhad personally called me to cancel. It seems Liza Minnelli was performingfor just one night before her own gig at a casino in Richmond, Canada, andLiza had requested to meet her. And meet her she did.
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51817.asp
Police Set Up Barricades Outside Ledger Funeral Home
01/26/08-01/28/08
Police set up barricades outside a funeral home Friday as Heath Ledger'sfamily made arrangements to claim the body of the 28-year-old BrokebackMountain actor.
A private viewing was scheduled for Friday at the Frank E. Campbell funeralhome in Manhattan, and Ledger's family was flying to the United States fromhis native Australia.
On Thursday, police released a detailed timeline of the calls made byLedger's masseuse on Tuesday afternoon, after he could not be roused for ascheduled massage.
Police said the masseuse spent nine minutes making three calls to Full Houseactress Mary-Kate Olsen before she dialed the police emergency dispatcherfor help. The masseuse called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived.
The details about the calls do not have any significant bearing on theinvestigation because authorities believe Ledger was dead at that point andthey have ruled out foul play.
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51835.asp
Day-Lewis Emotional Over Ledger Death
01/26/08-01/28/08
Daniel Day-Lewis paid an emotional tribute to Heath Ledger during a tapedappearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show.
The 50-year-old actor, who was on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss hisOscar nomination for There Will Be Blood, said he couldn't get his mind offLedger's sudden death.
Day-Lewis taped his appearance by satellite from Europe on Wednesday, a dayafter the 28-year-old actor was found dead in his Manhattan apartment.
''I feel very unsettled at the moment, and I suppose it's 'cause I only justsaw the news about Heath Ledger's death,'' said Day-Lewis, his voicequivering.
''It seems somehow strange to be talking about anything else. Not thatthere's anything to say really except to express one's regret and to sayfrom the bottom of one's heart to his family and to his friends that I'msorry for their trouble,'' he said.
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid51564.asp
Old Habits Die Hard in the New South
Five years ago transgender and intersex Michelle Bruce managed to winelected office in Georgia without incident. Her reelection attempt wasanother story.
By Bryan Ochalla
An Advocate.com exclusive posted January 23, 2008
Michelle Bruce is no stranger to intolerance -- she was born intersex andnow identifies as transgender. So it was a shock when she ran for a seat onthe city council of Riverdale, Ga., in 2003 and her political platform --creating a neighborhood watch program and a police bicycle patrol -- madeheadlines instead of her sexuality.
Unfortunately for Bruce, the opposite occurred when she ran for reelectionlast year. Although things went smoothly until Election Day, where her 312votes ensured a runoff against runner-up Wayne Hall (202 votes), third-placefinisher Georgia Fuller (171 votes) quickly filed a lawsuit claiming Brucemisled voters by running as a woman.
Although a judge dismissed the complaint on December 3, "the damage wasdone," says Bruce, who lost the runoff to Hall the very next day.
Why do you think your sexuality became an issue during your reelection whenno one seemed to care the first time around?
I guess they just didn't think about it until now. That's the only reason Ican come up with, because everybody here knows who and what I am. I live asa woman, I dress as a woman, I walk as a woman, I carry myself as a woman --and that has never seemed to bother anyone here except the bigots in office.
more . . . . .
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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Dems Turn Focus To Super Tuesday
(Macon, Georgia) Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, eachclaiming a pair of early victories, now leave the concentrated campaigningof Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina for an unwieldy and costly 10-daydash through 22 states that hold presidential primaries or caucuses Feb. 5.
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Florida Gov. Endorses McCain
(St. Petersburg, Florida) Florida Gov. Charlie Crist endorsed a beaming Sen.John McCain on Saturday night, delivering a boost three days before thestate's pivotal primary.
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Obama Runs Away With SC Primary
(Columbia, South Carolina) Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in theracially charged South Carolina primary Saturday night, regaining campaignmomentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.
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New Welfare Rule Friendlier To Students
(Washington) Welfare recipients who go to college can use up to a year ofclasswork to meet the program's work requirements and no longer will need tohave homework supervised for some of that time count as well.
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Calif. Court: Medical Pot Not OK At Work
(San Francisco, California) Employers can fire workers who use medicalmarijuana even if it was legally recommended by a doctor, the CaliforniaSupreme Court ruled this week, dealing the state another setback in itsstandoff with federal law enforcement.
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Ledger Funeral Arrangements A Mystery
(New York City) Details about funeral arrangements for actor Heath Ledgerremained secret Saturday as authorities await a toxicology report that couldshow the cause of his death.
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Arkansas Voter Drive Kicked Off To Bar Gays From Adopting
(Little Rock, Arkansas) A conservative social policy group launched itscampaign Thursday to collect enough signatures to force a ballot measure inNovember to bar same-sex or unmarried opposite-sex couples from adopting orbecoming foster parents in Arkansas.
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Spinster Sisters Claim UK Gay Partner Law Discriminates Against Them
(London) Two elderly sisters who live together say they could lose theirfamily home because they are victims of discrimination under Britain's civilpartner law and they've taken their case to European Court of Human Rightsin Strasbourg.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, the Rev. O'Neal Dozier ShowSupport For Mike Huckabee
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared Friday with two of BrowardCounty's most controversial political figures, Fort Lauderdale Mayor JimNaugle and the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, as he attempts to lift his standing amongRepublican voters. The ordained Baptist minister and former Arkansasgovernor's newest backer is Naugle, a Democrat - which means he can't votefor Huckabee in Tuesday's primary - who often endorses Republicans.
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Anti-Gay Group Pickets Service of Reno Soldier Killed in Iraq
A small group of anti-gay protesters gathered Saturday outside a funeral
service for a Reno soldier killed in Iraq, but later became surrounded bymore than 150 counter-demonstrators, authorities said.
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Gay and Playful Sci-Fi Fun
Homophobes who doth protest gay bliss too much should steer clear of"Torchwood" and its main hero, Capt. Jack, who will sex up men, women oralien life forms. To paraphrase the techno rapper Peaches, he likes girlsand he likes boys, he doesn't have to make the choice.
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Male Fan Screams to Vin Diesel, "Vin! I Love You! You're Hot!"
Sexually ambiguous muscle boy Vin Diesel emerges from diva-like behavior atan undisclosed and secure location to brave the paparazzi. Not sure what'smore entertaining: The coded messaging at TMZ that suggests the star ofPitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick was "supposedly dating MichelleRodriguez"? Or, the male fan caught on videotape shouting several times,"Vin! I love you! You're hot! You're hot!"
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Key West: Women's Hotel Has Girl Rocker and Boy Blockers in UpcomingEntertainment
Pearl's Rainbow, a first-rate lesbian resort in Key West, has upcomingevents for January and February that include a female rocker and boyblockers (and runners and passers). They are welcoming female music artistJennifer Corday on January 25, and inviting women to join them for theirannual Super Bowl Sunday party on February 3.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
[euro-queer] APPEAL for protest action against homophobic MoscowMayor in Paris!
Dear friends and colleagues,
Homophobic Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who banned two gay pride parades in2006 and 2007 and is planning to ban the third pride on 31 May this year, isgoing to be in Paris to take part in the traditional annual M4 meeting(Summit of Paris, Berlin, London and Moscow Mayors) which will take place on18-19 February in Paris City Hall.
Moscow Mayor called the gay prides as "satanic gatherings". He created theatmosphere of total ban on all public assemblies of LGBT people in the city.The case concerning the ban of the first gay pride march in Moscow iscurrently in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the ban ofthe second pride march will be appealed to Strasbourg within weeks.
Organizational Committee of Moscow Pride, LGBT Human Rights ProjectGayRussia.Ru and Russian Movement "LGBT Rights" ask for your help inorganizing a protest action against the visit and policies of Moscow Mayorduring his stay in Paris on 19 February. If you are in Paris and can helpwith this please contact Nikolai Alekseev at
Best regards from Moscow,
Nikolai Alekseev
GayRussia.Ru
MoscowPride.Ru
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Euro-Queer
The Telegraph
Just one in 100 tells researchers: I'm gay
By Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:52pm GMT 26/01/2008
Only one in 100 Britons would describe themselves as gay, according tothe first government research into the nation's sexuality.
A further one in 100 would call themselves bisexual - but both groupsare outnumbered by those who say they are unwilling to discuss their privatelife with Whitehall researchers.
In the survey, some people failed to understand the question and gaveanswers including "female", "normal", "not active" and "I am OK with mysexuality".
Some interviewers declined to ask the question for fear of givingoffence.
The Office for National Statistics, which carried out the poll of 4,000people, admitted that its results were "not a reliable estimate" of thehomosexual population.
It said it would use the findings to develop a more accurate way ofmeasuring.
Ministers intend to introduce an annual count once the survey method hasbeen improved. They say they need the information to plan public serviceprovision more accurately.
However, the question will not be asked in the next census in 2011, forfear that it might deter some people from returning their forms.
Statisticians spent two years considering the precise wording of thesexuality question, which was asked as part of a larger survey aboutlifestyle. In the end, they asked it in two different ways, each bringingdifferent results.
Overall, 94.4% of people surveyed described themselves as heterosexualor "straight"; 1% said they were gay or lesbian; 0.9% said they werebisexual; 0.6% selected "other"; and 3% ticked the box for "prefer not tosay".
No one objected to being asked, although interviewers reported that somesniggered or giggled out of amusement or embarrassment.
However, in 15% of cases the interviewer failed to put the question,making the results difficult to interpret.
Homosexual campaigners have claimed previously that as many as one in 10of the population is gay. Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of the gayrights group Stonewall, believes the true figure to be about 6%.
He backed the decision to carry out the survey, but said: "There aresensible reasons for putting this question, but if you don't explain thereasons on the doorstep then people will get anxious and wonder why the manfrom the ministry is asking about their private life."
In constructing the survey, statisticians grappled with the definitionof homosexuality. Amanda Wilmot of the ONS said: "Human beings do notalways conform to a common standard.
"Those who are abstaining, or ignoring desires, or indeed those who areundecided or not yet 'out', may not be able to classify themselves at all.One's desire, behaviour and self-identification might not always match."
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
"I have always contended that what my father is doing has been more helpfulthan hurtful to the GLBT cause. I have also been outspoken about thehypocrisy displayed by people only showing outrage for funeral protests whenit's directed toward a group other than gays... I'd much prefer to have thein your face, truthful hatred of my family toward gays than theequivocating, hair-splitting justifications of so many in the mainstream whomask their prejudice with cute little sayings like "love the sinner, hatethe sin" while they behave with hatred and prejudice by even defining it assin."
Nate Phelps, supporter of "phags for phelps,"estranged son of Fred Phelps, estranged brother of Shirley Phelps-Roper.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
NY POST ARTICLE FEATURES
GRATUITOUS AND SENSATIONAL HEADLINE
January 25, 2008
The New York Post today ran a story about an ongoing criminal trial with theoutrageous and offensive headline
"Evil Lesbian Mom Left Toddler to Die Slow Death: DA."
The Post's decision to describe the subject of this article using the phrase"evil lesbian" -- when it clearly would not highlight the orientation of aheterosexual suspect -- is the latest incident in the paper's long,documented history of anti-gay slurs.
"The Post does it again," said Rashad Robinson, GLAAD's Senior Director ofMedia Programs. "Yet another inflammatory irresponsible headline designedto defame an entire community rather than inform the story."
In addition, the story used the gratuitous and sensationalistic term"lesbian lovers."
After GLAAD contacted editors at the New York Post, its representativesrefused to change the offensive headline on its website.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
GLAAD strongly urges you to contact the New York Post and demand that itchange the online version of the headline to reflect the reality that thesuspect's sexual orientation is irrelevant to the facts of the case. Tellthe Post you will not tolerate its continued disrespect for journalisticstandards.
CONTACT:
Laura Italiano
Reporter
New York Post
laura.italiano@nypost.com
Michelle Gotthelf
Metro Editor
New York Post
mgotthelf@nypost.com
GLAAD Contact: Paul Karr, Director of Media of Field Strategy
Phone: (646) 871-8022 Email: karr@glaad.org
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
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