GLBT DIGEST February 25, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
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'No Country for Old Men' Wins Best Picture
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and MICHAEL CIEPLY
No film ran away with the night, as the 80th Academy Awards gave the filmindustry a chance to move beyond labor strife. Above, Marion Cotillard,left, and Daniel Day-Lewis won awards for best actress and best actor.
Winners »
Picture: "No Country for Old Men"
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/movies/awardsseason/25osca.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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Taunts forced gay Australian policeman out
DURING his three years as a NSW police officer, Dallas McCarthy enduredtaunts of "poofter boy" and "fag dog" - not from criminals but from his owncolleagues.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/
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Leaders: Gainesville's reaction to transgender laws not the norm
The public response in Gainesville to an ordinance that outlaweddiscrimination on the basis of gender identity is not the norm, according tovarious city leaders.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080224/NEWS/802240323/1002/NEWS
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
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Gay Community Leaders Hold Emergency Meeting in Fort Lauderdale
Slaying of Transgendered Youth Prompts Sunday Night Conference Call -
By Norm Kent
Bouquets and floral arrangements will be placed on site at the 1000 block ofSistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale - A loose consortium of gay communityleaders spontaneously mobilized with a statewide conference call in responseto the shooting of a young gay man in Fort Lauderdale on Friday evening. Theshooting death of the transgendered teenage boy, who was dressed in women'sclothing when his body was found, is being investigated as a possible hatecrime, the Sun-Sentinel reported today. Meanwhile, detectives are trying todetermine whether he was targeted because of his sexual orientation orgender identity.
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Dallas Schools Must Repay Misused HIV Funds
The Dallas Independent School District has been ordered by a judge to repaythe federal government $336,000 for misusing grant money that was supposedto be geared toward HIV education programs. The Centers for Disease Controlgrant, to be paid over three years, was to provide two full-time employeesfor the program, the Dallas Morning News reported.
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First-Ever Program to Help Black Gays Get Elected by Deb Price
When Joe Angelo ran for city commissioner of tiny Wilton Manors in SouthFlorida four years ago, he pledged to control development, build a new cityhall and clean up neighborhoods to fight crime. But when he won, theheadline in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel spotlighted his history-makingtraits: "Florida's First Gay Black Public Official." "It was scary to seethat big headline," recalls Angelo, 42, who's ended up liking politics somuch he's considering running for mayor. "But the day after the headline wasthe best day, because I realized I was liberated." Although it might seemeasy to "liberate" yourself from the political closet in Wilton Manors --which was the second U.S. city to elect a gay-majority legislative body --Angelo still had to jump past his gut-level fear that voters would rejecthim because he's gay. Layering race on top of sexual orientation only makessuch a jump scarier. "Gay black people are reticent to jump in because theythink it is shallow water," Angelo says. "Once they see more people likethemselves are in the political water and doing fine, then it'll be easierfor them to jump in."
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GLAAD Congratulates Freeheld's Oscar Win for Best Documentary Short SubjectThe Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today congratulateddirector-producer Cynthia Wade on her Oscar® win for her short documentary,Freeheld. The award was presented this evening at the 80th Annual AcademyAwards®, held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.
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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
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A volunteer news poster is sought for To Form a More Perfect Union: MarriageEquality News.
The news poster would join the two existing bloggers for posting duties twoor three days a week, as well as occasional fill-in coverage in event ofvacations or emergencies. Duties require an hour or two a day at your convenience. We will provide youwith search engine materials and the (minimal) training required to searchfor materials to post and to format them for the weblog.
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Organizers of the third annual Queer Voices of the North Film Festivalwanted to send a message of inclusiveness. "We want people to know we arejust regular guys who are gay," said Bob Hughes, a festival organizer. "It'sabout educating the heterosexual community as well as being inclusive." Heldlast night at Galaxy Cinemas in conjunction with Shadows of the Mind FilmFestival, the theme of the 2008 Queer Voices was youth and hockey.
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Washington state: The state House of Representatives approved legislation aweek ago Friday to greatly expand Washington's domestic partnership law,which went into effect just seven months ago. The vote, 62-32, was takenafter very little debate, according to Associated Press writer Rachel LaCorte. The measure now is in the Senate, where a public hearing as beenscheduled for Monday in the Committee on Government Operations andElections.
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Vermont: I find it unbelievable that Stephen Cable and his friends put somuch energy into trying to hurt other families ("Traditional marriage chafesUVM," Feb. 10). First of all, especially as the Christians they profess tobe, in what truly compassionate way are they intending to treat families ofsame-sex couples in the future? Because those families are not going tocease to exist just because Mr. Cable wants them to. It seems his goal is toactively and intentionally keep such families at a disadvantage in oursociety and make sure they have fewer rights and advantages than he does. Itsure doesn't seem to me that a better community will come from that.
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Adamant that Canadian views on same-sex marriage shouldn't be allowed todefine American law, a New York county is appealing a recent landmark U.S.court ruling that forces the border state to fully recognize gay couples wedin Canada. In a unanimous Feb. 1 decision that drew attention across theU.S. for its precedent-setting potential, a New York appeals court orderedthe Monroe County Community College in Rochester to grant full spousalbenefits to two women legally married in Canada in 2004.
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In the Feb. 10 edition of the Sunday Rutland Herald and Times Argus, StephenCable claims he and his "internationally recognized experts" base theirarguments against same-sex marriage on a "wealth of social scienceresearch." I've listened to the "experts'" talks and read their Powerpointsand perused Cable's Vermont Marriage Advisory Council Web site. Neither theexperts nor the research ever compares same-sex marriage to heterosexualmarriage. Instead, they show the benefits to children of being raised by twolegally married parents. It looks to me like all that research actuallysupports gay and lesbian couples who want to marry so their children willhave greater security.
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This year, Florida will have a similar [marriage] amendment on its ballot,leading to speculation that it will affect voter turnout and maybe electionoutcomes - particularly since the apparent GOP nominee, Arizona Sen. JohnMcCain, isn't popular with religious and social conservatives. The amendment"absolutely" will drive conservative voters to the polls, said state GOPspokeswoman Erin VanSickle. "It's a Republican issue."
Opponents of the amendment even have suggested it was planned to helpRepublicans. But political scientists who have studied the effect of ballotissues on voter turnout say that the conventional wisdom is probably wrong.
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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
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Story of dying lesbian cop's pension struggle wins Oscar
Director Cynthia Wade and producer Vanessa Roth were among the winners atthe 80th Annual Academy Awards yesterday, taking home a statue for BestDocumentary Short Subject for the short film Freeheld.
Freeheld documents the struggle of New Jersey Detective Lieutenant LaurelHester in her effort to transfer her pension to her domestic partner, StacieAndree. With less than six months to live as cancer spreads to her brain,Laurel battles the Ocean County Freeholders and her elected officials.
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Catholics unhappy at rights for gay Kosovans
The draft constitution of Europe's newest nation is under attack from aRoman Catholic political organisation because it seeks to protect gay peoplefrom discrimination. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia earlier thismonth, backed by the US, the UK and other leading nations. Its draftconstitution contains specific provisions to protect Kosovans fromdiscrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and enshrines the rightto marry but does not limit that right to a man and a woman.
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Raul Castro confirmed as Cuban President
The younger brother of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has been approved asthe country's President by the National Assembly. Fidel, 81, stepped downlast week, but will remain as head of the Communist party and is expected tocontinue to have a strong influence on his brother. At a two-day discussionon homosexuality in Cuba held earlier this year in Madrid poet Leon de laHoz said that many people on the island refer to Raul as "the little Chineseman with the sad eyes," a reference to his supposed repressed homosexuality.click here for the full article
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Microsoft millions form largest ever gay donation
A gay man who was one of the founding employees of computer companyMicrosoft has bequeathed $65m (£33m) to the Pride Foundation of Seattle. RicWeiland joined the company started by two of his high school classmates BillGates and Paul Allen. He died in died in June 2006, at the age of 53,committing suicide after struggling with depression. He is survived by hispartner, Mike Schaefer of Seattle and his nieces and nephews. $160m of hisestate was donated to charitable organisations. He also left $60m toStanford University.
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Ralph Nader enters US Presidential race
Perennial Presidential candidate Ralph Nader announced on NBC's Meet thePress yesterday that he will be entering the race for the White House yetagain. Nader, 73, ran as an Independent in 2004 and as a Green Partycandidate in 2000, a race in which he was blamed for spoiling former VicePresident Al Gore's chance for a clear victory. Blogger Sandy Sand onOpEdNews.com perhaps summed up the response of many to the announcement bysaying: "Just what we need."
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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
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Europe Must Stop Deportation of Iranian Queers (Feb 25, 08)
He lived a marginalized and terrorized life as an Iranian homosexual inIran; the burden of such a life became so strenuous that he finally leftIran forthe UK with a student visa. Mehdi Kazemi is another Iranian gay refugee wholeft his home country with the hope of securing a more dignified life forhimself in the West; and yet he is another young refugee who sees his hopesfor safety and human dignity fading in the face of European governments'lack of respect for even the most basic human rights.
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