GLBT DIGEST February 9, 2008

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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the link, above, for the following articles:
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Lesbian Mom Convicted In Murder Of Infant Son
(New York City) A New York City woman has been found guilty of killing her23-month-old son. Her partner is already serving a sentence for her part inthe murder.
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Transsexual Prisoner Guilty Of Death Threats
(Butler, Pennsylvania) A transsexual woman in prison for the castrationdeath of her husband has pleaded guilty to threatening the life of theprosecutor who put her there.
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Church Leader Accused Of Sexually Harassing Male Worker
(Anchorage, Alaska) A former Russian Orthodox missionary has filed a sexualharassment complaint against the faith's second-highest-ranking official inAlaska, an attorney said.
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Lawsuit Accuses Anti-Gay College Of $Billion Secret Bank Account
(Tulsa, Oklahoma) A former senior accountant at Oral Roberts Universityalleges that more than $1 billion annually was inappropriately funneledthrough the school.
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Gay Marriage Foes Attempt To Force Amendment Vote
(Annapolis, Maryland) Opponents of three measures that would give varyingrights to same-sex couples in Maryland say they will attempt to force aproposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions directly ontothe floor of the House and bypass committees.
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House GOP Opposes AIDS Program Changes
(Washington) House Republican leader John Boehner and other Republicans warnthat a successful program to combat AIDS in Africa would be in jeopardy ifDemocrats move ahead with plans to make changes.
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Gay Foe Dobson Endorses Huckabee
(Washington) James Dobson, one of the nation's most prominent evangelicalChristian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee's presidential bid Thursday night,giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as theRepublican field narrowed to a two-man race.
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Clinton Obama Battle Becoming Intensely Personal
(New Orleans, Louisiana) Democrat Barack Obama is suggesting that HillaryRodham Clinton follow his lead and release her and her husband's income taxreturns so the public can see where the $5 million she loaned herpresidential campaign came from.


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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:
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Say 'no' to pollsters?
Now, the esteemed Huffington Post is asking readers to sign a petitionsaying "no" to pollsters. Ariana Huffington writes, "Today's politicallandscape is littered with politicians and reporters addicted to treatingpolling results as if Moses just brought them down from the mountaintop....... After the limited gay results were released, some news outlets wereusing the results to say that all gays love Hillary, which is simply nottrue, especially with such a flawed exit poll.
http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com/2008/02/07/margaret-cho-im-bi-candidate/
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Why Barack's mojo with the gays can't match Hillary's
Why did twice as many gay Democratic voters prefer Hillary Clinton to BarackObama on Super-Duper Tuesday? Despite Obama's soaring rhetoric of inclusion,according to exit polls, Hillary won the gay vote 63 percent to 29 percentin California and 59 percent to 36 percent in New York. In tony coastalMassachusetts, Obama carried Martha's Vineyard (the Clintons' on-again,off-again summer home), but Hillary tellingly swept Provincetown.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/02/examining_why_baracks_mojo_wit.html
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Pennsylvania: State Sen. Michael Brubaker is poised to introducelegislation that would write a ban on gay marriage into the stateConstitution, the Intelligencer Journal has learned. According to varioussources, the Warwick Township Republican is shopping for co-sponsors toattach their names to the legislation, which would have to go through alengthy process and likely a bitter political fight in order to become law.
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/216348
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Update on the New Mexico domestic partnership bill...
Things are heating up in the efforts to pass the New Mexico domesticpartnership bill: The Domestic Partnership bill is facing a final showdown.We are currently struggling to get our bill out of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee and the GLBT and allied community is throwing their weight behinda final effort to demonstrate to the NM Legislature that this bill isnecessary and must pass!
http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2008/02/update-on-the-n.html
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MRSA Update: UCSF Creates Task Force To Study Overhyped Scare
If you remember from last month, we saw the mainstream media and anti-gayextremists hype a study by scientists from the University of California, SanFrancisco by reporting that a "flesh-eating superbug" was sweeping the gaycommunity and threatening to spread into the"general population." Thisdrug-resistant staph infection, known as methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has actually been spreading among straightsfor decades (especially among professional athletes and military personnel).
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/02/07/1412
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Why exit polls identifying LGB voters are important
After telling all of you about the existence of exit polling data on lesbian, gay and bisexual voters in Tuesday's Democratic Primaries in New York and California, I had several people question why I said exit pollsshould always be asking the LGB question. Folks, did you know we're practically invisible as a community? Yes I know we're "everywhere" and that there are plenty of anecdotes about how many of us there are (mainly wrong), but I feel obligated to let you know about something.
http://prideagenda.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-exit-polls-identifying-lgb-voters.html
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Margaret Cho: "I'm Bi-Candidate!"
"I am in the closet. Not sexually of course, because anyone who knows meknows I am up for anything with anybody. "I am in the Democratic Primarycloset. I know a lot of people in this closet. We can't talk about it. Weare 'undecided' in the polls. We are the ones everyone is fighting over. ButI don't want to be in this closet, not anymore. I am outing myself. "I ambi-candidate. I like Hillary and Obama. I like Obama and Hillary."
http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com/2008/02/07/margaret-cho-im-bi-candidate/


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Anything but Straight
http://www.waynebesen.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:
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Ted Haggard's Inability To Go From Gay To Straight Was Predictable
TruthWinsOut.org said Ted Haggard's inability to go from gay to straight wasno surprise and indicative of these failed programs. Haggard entered anintensive "restoration" process after he was fired from New Life Church andresigned as head of the National Association of Evangelicals in 2006 amidallegations that he had an affair with a male prostitute.
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Where Is The Gay Jesse Jackson?
As the nail biter of a presidential race becomes more uncertain, the onlything guaranteed is a good cry on Inauguration Day. Electing our first womanor black president will bring sobs of joy, just as the election of aRepublican will usher in wallowing wails of woe. However, there is one moreissue that is worthy of tears, and that is how few Americans could imagine agay President of the United States.


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Planet Out
http://www.planetout.com/
Go to this link for the following article:
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Lutherans to unveil new teaching on gays
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will soon release a draft of itssocial statement on human sexuality, including proposed teaching on gayrelationships. The document "Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: LutheransTalk about Human Sexuality" is scheduled to be made public March 13 by theTask Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality.


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:
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Archbishop denies he called for Sharia law
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has denied that he calledfor the introduction ofSharia Law. In a statement he said that he "certainly did not call for itsintroduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law". Hesaid that he was "exploring ways in which reasonable accommodation might bemade within existing arrangements for religious conscience".
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Pizza Hut runs out of pizza if you're gay or transexual, group claims
A group of gay men out with their transsexual friends were told that PizzaHut had run out of Pizza, in order to avoid serving them it has beenclaimed. The group, some of them wearing high heels asked for a table in abranch of the chain in Church Street, Blackpool. Michael Kemp, 48, who waswearing a miniskirt claimed: "When we arrived at the Pizza Hut, we noticedpeople were staring at us and laughing.
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Radio 4 presenter cleared of rape
BBC Radio 4 presenter Nigel Wrench was today cleared by a court of raping aman that he met at a New Years Eve party. He was accused of drugging andsexually assaulting the 26-year-old after inviting him back to his flat innorth London after meeting him at a New Years party. The presenter of Radio4's PM programme admitted snorting cocaine with the man at a Kennigton partybefore taking him home to view his art collection.
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'Gay' executions imminent in Iran, claims Amnesty
Human rights pressure group Amnesty International has warned that two menmay soon be executed by being thrown off a cliff, an Islamic punishment forhomosexual sex. Six men were sentenced by a court in May 2007 of havingabducted two young men in the city of Arsanjan, to the east of Shiraz,stealing their property and raping them. Tayyeb Karimi and Yazdan (surnameunknown) were sentenced to death by the judge, who stipulated they be thrownfrom a height.
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Turks reject gays or atheists as neighbours
A survey of Turkish attitudes has found that the vast majority would notwant to live next to a gay person. 1,579 persons in 41 cities were polled byBahcesehir University's Economic and Social Research Centre. The resultsshow that Turks are generally happy, think their country will join the EU ifit meets all the criteria, but do not want to live next door to people withdifferent identities.


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HeartStrong
http://www.heartstrong.org
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article
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The year is moving on. We are hard at work with out outreach/educationalwork as well as scheduling educational forums for the coming year. ThisSunday we are doing a forum in New Smyrna Beach FL which was preceded by aforum held in Orlando last weekend. We will be doing a brief outreach tripin OR in March. We have not visited OR for forums in two years. Our forumhosts are Safe Schools Oregon, PFLAG Eugene/Springfield, and The UnitarianUniversalist Church of Eugene. The UU church in Ashland OR will be hostinga community event as well.


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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Or contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article
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Germany: Gender Warrior Wins Case Against Surgeon
A 48-year-old woman who was forced to live much of her life as a man won adamages lawsuit in a 30-year-old medical case that promised to set aprecedent for intergender activists. Christiane Völling, who works as anurse in Düsseldorf, sued the doctor whoremoved her fully-intact femaleinternal organs 30 years ago, when she was 18 years old.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3111505,00.html
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This week in Washington Blade...
http://www.washblade.com/
A new edition is out.
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National Black HIV / AIDS Awareness Day
In commemoration of National Black HIV / AIDS Awareness Day, Senator BarackObama sent a letter to the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, which willbe read at their ceremony this evening honoring numerous "Heroes in theStruggle" against this ongoing epidemic. Here are excerpts from the letter,which may also be found at http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hqblog.
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New York Post Headline Dehumanizes Transgender People
Just one week after GLAAD issued an alert encouraging our community torespond to a sensational New York Post headline, the tabloid today ran yetanother egregious headline, "Axis of She-Vil." The article, about theIranian government's plans to subsidize sex reassignment surgeries, alsoincluded the defamatory sub-headline, "Death to Gays But Free Ops For IraniTrannies."
http://glaad.org/
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The 21st season of MTV's hit reality show "The Real World," is now casting,and would like to invite members of GLAAD in the 18-24 age range to apply!
From MTV: Please attend one of our upcoming casting calls -
February 9th in Salt Lake City, Chicago, and College Station, TX
February 12th in Amherst, MA
February 16th in New Haven, CT
For details on the above casting calls, or to UPLOAD A CASTING VIDEO, pleasevisit www.bunim-murray.com
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(New York, February 7, 2008) â?" Romanian legislators should reject a changeto the Family Code that would narrow the definition of marriage to oneexclusively between a man and woman, Human Rights Watch said in a lettersent today to government officials
(http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/07/romani18004.htm). The measure woulddeprive many Romanian families of basic civil rights and introduceinequality into law.
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The National Black Justice Coalition proudly presents The Power of UsTMNational Convention (April 24-25-26, 2008).
This annual gathering convenes the nation's preeminent thinkers to highlightBlack LGBT couples, families, high profile activists, religious andspiritual leaders, organizers, artists, designers and more. ContinentalAirlines has teamed up with NBJC to provide discounts on airfare to and fromBaltimore!!
http://www.nbjcoalition.org/news/power-of-us-national.html


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Forwarded from Euro-Queer
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article:
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Anti-gay police complaints 'rise'
The number of complaints about homophobia within the police has risen byalmost a quarter, according to the Gay Police Association. Theassociation said it received 350 calls to its helpline last year, comparedwith 260 the year before. It estimated that there were about 7,000homophobic incidents among police last year, but intimidated officers werereluctant to report them. The police said "any form of homophobia has noplace in the police".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7236233.stm
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UK - Bishop whose U-turn on homosexuality has shaken up the Anglican church Traditionally Lent is a time of sacrifice and suffering, and taking thesethemes to heart is the Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Rev James Jones.Earlier this week he urged people to give up carbon for Lent instead of themore traditional fare of chocolate and alcohol. While the scheme has wonplaudits for its practical simplicity, what has garnered rather moreheadlines is Jones's volte-face regarding homosexuality and the church. Inan essay, Making Space for Truth and Grace, he argues that the Bible maysupport same-sex relationships and uses the bonds between Jesus and John theApostle and Jonathan and David as examples.


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Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrier
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp
Go to this link for the following articles:
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Marriage to have its day in California's high court
Arguments for lifting -- and keeping -- California's marriage ban will beheld by the state Supreme Court on March 4 in San Francisco. Many of thegroups in favor of the ban are seeking to return the issue to voters in theform of a ballot initiative. San Francisco Chronicle (2/7)
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Will lawmakers block Utah capital's partner registry, benefits?
The Salt Lake City Council has granted its unanimous approval to createUtah's first domestic-partner registry. However, the registry reportedlycould be derailed before the first couple signs up, under a bill introducedin the state Legislature that would stop the registry and prohibit the cityfrom offering domestic-partner benefits to its workers. The Salt LakeTribune (Utah) (2/6)
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Senegal police release men linked to wedding photos
Several men in Senegal who were detained by police in connection with thepublication in a magazine of photos allegedly showing a same-sex weddingceremony have been released. BBC (2/7)
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Judge lets stand Maryland county's gay-inclusive school curriculum
Washington Blade (2/6)
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Attend Harvard this summer!
Are you an openly LGBT elected or appointed official or senior-levelcommunity leader? Consider building your leadership skills as a Gay &Lesbian Leadership Institute Harvard Fellow. Since 2001, GLLI has grantedscholarships to select LGBT leaders to attend the Senior Executives in Stateand Local Government program at Harvard University's Kennedy School ofGovernment. The 2008 program will take place June 8-27 and July 6-25. Thedeadline to apply for the GLLI Fellowship is March 28, 2008. Click here tolearn more or apply.
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Column: Out president isn't an impossible dream
For the LGBT community to realize the possibility of electing an outpresident by mid-century, openly gay and lesbian leaders need to beginrunning for the nation's top job in the next election cycle, according tocolumnist Wayne Besen. Falls Church (Va.) News-Press (2/7)
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LGBT topics should be in campaign script, not just that of "The L Word"
If Showtime's lesbian drama "The L Word" can find time for its characters,between dalliances, to address the important issue of the military's gayban, then there must be a place in the presidential contest for a seriousdiscussion of LGBT issues, according to writer Bruce Kluger. "The SuperTuesday turnout reaffirms that the USA is once again ready for a ationalconversation," he writes. "Let's just hope that the discussion includes ngaycitizens, too." Yahoo!/USA TODAY (2/6)
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Blogger: Fla. marriage supporters can know where neighbors stand
In Florida, the names and addresses of signatories to petitions for ballotissues are a matter of public record. This is raising controversies amongsupporters and opponents of a proposed ballot issue to restrict marriagerights in that state. Read more at the blog ABCActionNews.com.


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:
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In a development hailed by gay activists as an important breakthrough,couples registered as domestic partners in the District of Columbia,including same-sex couples, are now eligible to file joint returns for their2007 individual income tax filings with the city.
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Two by two, seven couples filed into the marriage license office todayinside Lehigh County Courthouse. They brought their $35 nonrefundableapplication fee and proof of identity, but they knew they'd be turned down.The couples were gay or lesbian, and Pennsylvania is one of 46 states thatrecognize neither same-sex civil unions nor marriages.
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Three Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor are offering similarpolicy visions for North Carolina. ..... The candidates said they support adeath penalty moratorium and agree that same-sex couples should be permittedto enter civil unions.


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Castro Merchants Are Sour Over Harvey Milk Movie - Business Owners Say TheyAre Losing Money
SAN FRANCISCO -- We were glad to see them come and we'll be glad to see themgo. That's how some San Francisco merchants feel about the third week ofproduction for the movie being filmed in the city's Castro Street districtabout Harvey Milk.
http://www.nbc11.com/politics/15255137/detail.html


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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Go to the links for the following articles:
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GA: Democrats Reject Transgender Candidate's Complaint
The state Democratic Party has thrown out a complaint that the ClaytonCounty party sexually discriminated against a transgender Riverdale residentand former city council member. Michelle Bruce, who lost her bid for asecond term on the Riverdale council in a December runoff, said members ofthe Clayton County Democratic Party criticized her on a Web site, endorsedother candidates and filed a frivolous lawsuit. An investigation by theDemocratic Party of Georgia found the complaint was not valid.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/clayton/stories/2008/02/07/claydems0208.html
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CA: New Tax Requirements for Domestic Partners Met with Mixed Response
A new California law taking affect this year, which changes the way morethan 40,000 registered domestic partners in California will file their 2007tax returns, is a symbolic victory for same-sex couples. It sounds simple,according to local tax attorneys Larry Conway and Gregg St. Cyr, but thefinancial impact won't always be positive, and most will face new tax-filingand planning headaches when filing their taxes this year. Conway and St. Cyrled an informational session on Jan. 28, for registered domestic partners todiscuss tax developments surrounding the new law requiring registereddomestic partners to file joint state taxes the same as heterosexual marriedcouples do.
http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=11479
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Bill to repeal death penalty will go to full Legislature
It's another session, and another chance to debate a bill that would repealthe death penalty in Nebraska. And this time, the issues seem to be focusedon details regarding how first-degree murderers would be punished - eitherwith a sentence of life in prison, or life without the possibility ofparole. The Legislature's Judiciary Committee on Thursday afternoon votedto send Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers' last death penalty repeal bill to thefull Legislature. Chambers will leave after this year because of termlimits.
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/02/08/news/politics/doc47abbf56c1d25148271055.txt
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OPINION: A Reluctant Patriot in the Identity Wars
In the American left, it's a deeply held notion that for minorities the onlyroad to equality is identity politics, all that organizing around skin-deepsimilarities and differences, and the superficial qualities of gender orrace waved like flags because there's no denying they have an often viciousimpact. Still, I'm a reluctant patriot. Sometimes the connections seem likeanchors, or an umbilical cord connecting me, for instance, to other women,other dykes. Other times there's nothing between us, and I feel like anasshole for insisting we share more than a species.
http://gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19272357&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=569342&rfi=6
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Bishop calls for gay Christians to come out of the spiritual closet
The most visible and powerful voice for LGBT equality in the Christiancommunity will address thousands of activists on Feb. 9 during the NationalCreating Change Conference in Detroit. In 2003 Rev. Gene Robinson'sconsecration as the U.S. piscopal Church's first openly gay bishop sentshockwaves across the globe that hreatened to divide the Anglican Church.Despite death threats, relentless media attention and political fallout,Robinson has become a beacon of hope and reason for those focused on workingfor change within faith based communities. "Because religion has treatedLGBT people so horribly it is the last place we will look for support," saidRobinson during an interview with BTLlast week. "There is no civil rightsissue so closely tied to religious issues as homosexuality."
http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=29144
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Gayava Hosts Conference on Judaism, LGBT Life
This weekend, 130 students from across North America will converge on theJewish Theological Seminary to discuss topics ranging from "Gender NeutralOrganizing on Campus" to "Leviticus 18:22-Who is Laying with Whom?" A yearafter JTS's groundbreaking decision to accept openly gay rabbinicalstudents-a first in the conservative movement of Judaism-made the school anicon in the LGBT world, JTS will co-host with Barnard the National Union ofJewish LGBTQQI Students conference. Spearheaded by Gayava, an organizationof LGBT Jews at Columbia, the conference will run from Friday to Sunday. Theparticipants, who are students from across North America, will be housed byColumbia student volunteers.
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/29110
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Beyond Ex-Gay, Mid-South Regional Gathering, Memphis, TN
After the outpouring of interest and support since the historic 2007 Ex-GaySurvivor Conference in Irvine, CA, Beyond Ex-Gay (bXg) will host the BeyondEx-Gay Mid-South Regional Gathering for ex-gay survivors and our allies. Organizers, presenters and attenders from the first Ex-Gay SurvivorConference will be present including Christine Bakke, Peterson Toscano, JimBurroway, Daniel Gonzales, and Jacob Wilson. bXg will offer a series ofinteractive workshops for ex-gay survivors and their allies.
http://www.beyondexgay.com/Events


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GLAAD is proud to announce the launch of our new Volunteer InformationCenter, a way for community members and volunteers to interface directlywith GLAAD's volunteer database and become a GLAAD volunteer! Registering asa volunteer is the first step in volunteering for the GLAAD Media Awards inSouth Florida. Registration is easy! Directions for signing up to our newsystem are below. Go to this link and fill out the volunteer application:
https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?AP=1650282281


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:
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Family Bids Farewell to Heath Ledger In Home Town
PERTH (Reuters) - Heath Ledger was remembered at a private memorial servicein his Australian home town on Saturday, with fellow actor Cate Blanchettgiving a eulogy and Ledger's father thanking his son's fans for theirsupport. Ledger, 28, best known for his role as a conflicted gay cowboy inthe 2005 movie "Brokeback Mountain," died of an accidental overdose ofprescription drugs in his New York apartment on. Jan 22. His death shockedfilm fans and actors around the world and prompted warnings about mixingprescription drugs, particularly pain killers, tranquillizers and sleepingpills.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-ledger.html?_r=1&scp=6sq=gay&st=nyt&oref=slogin
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