Thursday, March 27, 2008

GLBT DIGEST March 26, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Letters in response to "At 15, He's Bullied, Again and Again"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/opinion/l26bully.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=nyt

-S. African Anti - Conscription Activist Dies
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- Ivan Toms, a South African doctor whoplayed a key role in the campaign to end conscription of young white men tobolster the racist apartheid security forces has died. He was 55.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Obit-Toms.html?scp=6&sq=gay&st=nyt

-Rethinking Is Urged on a Vaccine for AIDS
The top federal official responsible for AIDS research agreed that morefundamental knowledge is needed about H.I.V. before a vaccine can bedeveloped.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/health/policy/26HIV.html

-Ronald H. Haines, 73, who was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washingtonthroughout the 1990s and ignited a stormy dispute when he ordained a lesbianpriest, died March 21 of cancer at his home in Lancaster, Pa.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032503572.html


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Washington Post
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Needed Protection
A federal study on teen sexual disease underlines the need for the HPVvaccine. EFFORTS TO REQUIRE the vaccination of girls against the humanpapillomavirus have stalled. More than 20 states and the District ofColumbia took up the issue, but only Virginia and the District ultimatelypassed laws that made the HPV vaccine a condition for admission to school.
The startling findings of a new government report should reinvigorate thedebate. It's clear that much more needs to be done to deal with theprevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in young girls.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032502439.html


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Steve Rothaus
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Task Force recognizes lesbian, bisexual and transgender women leaderschampioning equality
Encourages public to submit names of inspirational women leaders to newonline roll call
Throughout March, the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force has celebrated Women's History Month by profiling inspirationallesbian, bisexual and transgender women who are working toward fullequality. While the commemorative month is winding down, the Task Force'scommitment to honoring such women continues in the form of a new, ongoingonline roll call spotlighting these many leaders and their contributions tothe social justice movement. The Task Force is encouraging the public tosubmit names by e-mailing OutSpoken@theTaskForce.org.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/03/task-force-re-1.html


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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Ga. appeals court overturns lesbian mom's contempt charge
Hadaway faced jail time for not giving up child after adoptionThe court struggle for a lesbian to adopt her acquaintance's daughterappeared to come to a final end Monday. A three-judge panel of the GeorgiaCourt of Appeals reversed a lower court decision finding Elizabeth Hadawayin criminal contempt after the child was not returned to her biologicalmother, who wanted Hadaway to raise her.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=17355

-Oregon man says he's pregnant
Trans man has had chest reconstruction, testosterone therapyAn Oregon man is five months pregnant, according to a national magazine.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=17336

-Moroccan paper fined over gay party report error
RABAT, March 25 (Reuters) - A Moroccan court fined the country's leadingnewspaper a record 6.0 million dirhams ($815,900) on Tuesday, after itmistakenly alleged a judge had attended a gay wedding party in the Muslimcountry.
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL25888301.html

-Teen Charged in Hate Murder of Gay Man
DA: Suspect Shouted Anti-Gay Taunts, Deadly Stabbing Came After ChasingFleeing Victim
JAY STREET - Hate was on the docket Friday when an 18-year-old charged withintentional murder in the stabbing death of a 20-year-old gay man lastspring appeared in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday. He appeared at apre-trial hearing as the case moves toward a trial.
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=4&id=19399

-Doyle Survey Shows Vermont Voters Favor Same-Sex Marriage
'08 Results Reveal Range Of Opinion
MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A majority of nearly 7,000 Vermonters completing opinionsurveys on Town Meeting Day said they favor same-sex marriage. 54-percentsaid they support allowing gay couples to marry while 37-percent wereopposed.
http://www.wptz.com/news/15695253/detail.html?rss=pla&psp=news


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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-McCain Gets Nod From Nancy
(Bel Air, California) Former first lady Nancy Reagan endorsed John McCainfor president Tuesday night as the Arizona senator continued to collectbacking from leading Republicans who might help him unite the party and winover critical conservative voters.

-Clinton Seeks To Keep Pastor Flap Alive
(Greensburg, Pennsylvania) Hillary Rodham Clinton says she would have partedcompany with a minister who talked about America the way Barack Obama'spastor has.

-Obama Related To Pitt, Clinton To Jolie
(Boston, Massachusetts) This could make for one odd family reunion: BarackObama is a distant cousin of actor Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton isrelated to Pitt's girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.

-Toms Fought To End Apartheid, Advocated For Gay Rights, PWAs
(Johannesburg, South Africa) Ivan Toms, a South African doctor who played akey role in the campaign to end conscription of young white men to bolsterthe racist apartheid security forces was found dead Tuesday in his home,police said. He was 55.

-H&R Block Accused Of Charging Gay Couples More To File Taxes
(Hartford, Connecticut) The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticutwants H&R Block to modify its tax preparation system to allow gay couples incivil unions to file their state taxes online.
GOP Former Senator Slashes Bush On Gay Marriage, War, Abortion(Providence, Rhode Island) Former Rhode Island Senator. Lincoln Chafee oftenseemed to be odd man out in Washington.

-Drag Race Lands Man In Trouble With Law
(Hartford, Connecticut) Prosecutors say a video shows a Connecticutcorrection officer running a 40-yard-dash in women's clothing and highheels - at a time he had claimed he was too injured to work.
Quebec Ends Sex Ed

-(Montreal, Quebec) Quebec teenagers may be left groping in the dark aboutthe dangers and joys of sexual intimacy as the province cuts high schoolsex-education classes.

-Tutu To Receive International Gay Award
(New York City) Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been named the recipient of aprestigious award by the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian HumanRights Commission.


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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Man Arrested For Not Paying Male Prostitutes
Police in London have announced the arrest of a 37-year-old man suspected ofhiring male sex workers and not paying for them. The man, arrested inBangor, north Wales, has been linked to 17 offences including counts ofobtaining services by deception, two allegations of theft, one ofadministering a substance with intent and one allegation of rape.


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Labor of Love
Transman Thomas Beatie gives The Advocate a first-person account of how itfeels to be pregnant and carrying a child for his wife and himself.

- George Michael to Tour North America
Ladies and gentlemen, George Michael is giving North America one more try.
The pop star is gearing up for his first tour of the United States andCanada in 17 years, opening the ''25 Live'' tour in San Diego on June 17,Michael announced Monday. The tour is scheduled to wrap in Sunrise, Fla., onAugust 3.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid52951.asp


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-The Georgia Court of Appeals has overturned a criminal contempt chargeagainst a woman who was sentenced to 10-days in jail for not handing herdaughter over to foster care after she lost custody solely because she's alesbian. The little girl, now aged seven, was eventually returned toElizabeth Hadaway but the contempt sentence had not been rescinded, althoughit had been stayed to allow Hadaway to appeal.
The appeals court ruled a year and a day after the lower court judge passedthe sentence.

-Mayor Ralph Becker is proposing "Mutual Commitment Registry" as the newname for Salt Lake City's domestic-partnership registry, which survivedmultiple challenges during the 2008 Utah Legislature. On the session's finalday, state lawmakers passed a bill that allows cities and counties to adoptthe voluntary index so long as the "domestic partnership" phrase is changed.
Some legislators worried the term could be interpreted as akin to gaymarriage.

-I am writing to take Dr. Patrick Fagan up on his request to engage him onthe data, and on that basis, to challenge his use of the data to argueagainst extending marriage rights to same-sex couples ("Traditional marriagecritic gets it wrong," March 8). After careful review of Dr. Patrick Fagan'sargument, I note three significant problems: Dr. Fagan seems to havecompletely ignored the available research evidence on child outcomes forsame sex families.

-An opinion poll in Poland has found strong backing for a new EU treatycriticised by the country's homophobic President in an address to the nationlast week.The survey will come as an embarrassment to President LechKaczynski, who used lurid images of gay marriage to illustrate the "threat"to the Polish nation he claims the Lisbon treaty poses.The poll waspublished by daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. Despite the President's direwarning that the treaty would lead to the introduction of gay marriage inPoland, 69% of respondents did not believe him.Overall 65% want the treatyto be approved and 15% do not.


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Married American man ordered to pay gay lover
A court in Brazil has ruled that a married American man must share part ofhis wealth with a Brazilian man with whom he had a four year relationship.
The Court of Justice in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, a statethat legalised civil unions in 2004, recognised that the US citizen and theBrazilian man had a 'stable union.' The couple, whose identities have beenkept secret, had frequent meetings in Brazil, the US and other countries,the court was told.
click here for the full article

-How will the embryology bill help gay and lesbian parents?
The Prime Minister's announcement that Labour MPs will be allowed a freevote on legislation designed to ensure equal treatment for gay and lesbianpeople has dismayed gay rights groups and angered many in his own party. TheHuman Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently before Parliament aims tomake it easier for lesbian couples to access NHS fertilisation services andensure that a lesbian or gay couple can become the legal parents of theirchildren. Tory MPs will be given a free vote on the bill.
click here for the full article


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Forwarded from Euro-Queer
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article:

-UK: Galloway's Iranian propaganda? By Peter Tatchell
The Respect MP has turned on supporters of gay rights in Iran andfalsely accused us of war-mongering
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2008/03/galloways_iranian_propaganda.html

-Gay Couple wants to meet with President of Poland
New York's Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) and HRW called for LechKaczynski to apologize to sexual minorities and to meet with the gay couplewhose wedding photo was used in his Presidential address. "We want to avoida court case which is why we've given the Consul a letter for the Presidentin which we request a meeting with together with me and my partner", saidBrendan Fay, documentary film maker and gay activist. Viewers of thePresidential address saw a picture of his wedding with Tom, a pediatricdoctor in New York, as Kaczynski warned that the Lisbon Treaty would leadto the legalization of homosexual marriages in Poland.

-Helping Berlin's Male Prostitutes One Night at a Time
Male sex workers are often overlooked by counseling services
When one hears about prostitution, one normally thinks of women forced tosell their sexual services for money. The fact that young men also findtheir way onto the streets is less well known. In Berlin, as in most majorcities, boys and young men from as young as 14-years old work the curbs, sexcinemas and gay bars of the German capital. The fact that the rent boys ofBerlin barely register on most people's radars led to the creation of anassociation in 1992 to help those in prostitution. The employees of"Sub/Way" visit the districts of Berlin where the boys work and supply themwith condoms and advice on how to be safe on the streets. Once a week,the Sub/Way team loads their van up with condoms, lubricants, sexual healthpamphlets, instant soups and hot chocolate before entering the dark
underbelly of the German capital.


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Education Week
http://www.edweek.org

-Persian Gulf states enlist foreign education experts in cautious movetoward Western methods.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/03/26/29dubai.h27.html?tmp=1724480940

Fla. School District Sued Over Low Graduation Rates
The ACLU has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Palm Beach County,Fla. school district, claiming its low graduation rate is a violation of theFlorida Constitution.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/03/26/29aclu.h27.html?tmp=2122290927

-Education Beats Incarceration
States and localities that are attempting to control crime by spending moreon prisons would be better off spending more on schools, Tom Carroll writes.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/03/26/29carroll.h27.html?tmp=1053479254


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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
For the full article go to the website at the bottom.

-Gays on the Freedom day in Gomel and Minsk
Representatives of LGBT organizations "TEMA information center" and"Volunteers Without Borders" took part in number of events dedicated to 90thanniversary of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR) in Gomel and Minsk.
23 March, Gomel. LGBT activists, with rainbow flags, joined torepresentatives of the United Opposition for Freedom Day anniversarycelebration events. United Opposition organizes an excursion by historicalplaces of Belarusian democracy.
1.00p.m. Around 30 people took part in this excursion. Faces of allpeople were recorded by KGB cameraman. This excursion of 30 people wascontrolled and followed by 10 KGB officers in plain clothes.
During the excursion, activists attracted the attention of passers-by andpresent balloons to children. "Officers in plain clothes" follow us, notforgetting to record participants from all sides.
1.40p.m. Participants of festive excursion not yielded for numerous ofprovocations by the KGB officers in plain clothes and left the park byProletarskaya Street for Novobelitsa. .... more ....
http://www.pride.by/en/show.php?id=26

-'Gay is OK' in Afghanistan
When American and British marines started returning from the war inAfghanistan in early 2002, they brought along with them curious storiesabout Afghanistan's peasants who put on make-up and consistently followedthem around or even sexually abused them. This was a very shockingexperience for the soldiers.

- They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had paintedtoenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincingaround the village - a terrified marine, James Fletcher, told the Scotsmanupon returning from Afghanistan. We were pretty shocked. We discovered fromthe Afghan soldiers we had with us that a lot of men in this country havethe same philosophy as ancient Greeks: 'a woman for babies, a man forpleasure' - Fletcher continued recounting his experience.

-For every Pashtun there is an Ashna
After the fall of the repressive Taliban regime in which homosexuality,sodomy and generally any kind of relations outside of marriage between a manand a woman were punishable by death, Afghans have finally become free toenjoy homosexual relationships that have been an integral part of theirculture for several centuries.

-Traditional dancing in women's clothing
Such a form of prostitution has been quite widespread in recent years due topoverty among teenagers and the strict rules that forbid any contact amongsingles of the opposite sex. American Fox writes that in 1994 twoAfghanistan officers got into a fight over a boy they both took a liking to.
The government even had to pass a law forbidding Afghan soldiers from livingwith their "ashnas". After the Taliban regime, the Afghanistan Supreme Courtruled homosexuality illegal and sodomy punishable by death. But in reality,nobody will lose their life because of homosexual relations. Rather, theywill be given long-term prison sentences or just get away with a fine, whichis a very lenient punishment in this Islamic country. The British wroteabout gay love in Kabul as far as a century and a half back, which is proofthat homosexuality was pretty widespread even back then.
http://aneiros.blogspot.com/2008/03/gay-is-ok-in-afghanistan.html


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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:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-You can accuse the disgraced ex-governor Eliot Spitzer of many things inhis decision to flout the law by soliciting the services of a priceyprostitute: hypocrisy, egomania, sophomoric impulsiveness andself-indulgence, delusional ineptitude and boneheadedness. But one traitdecidedly not on display in Mr. Spitzer's splashy act of whole-lifecatabolism was originality. It's all been done before, every snickering bitof it, and not just by powerful "risk-taking" alpha men who may or may notbe enriched for the hormone testosterone
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/science/18angi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

-The Spring 2008 issue of "mental health AIDS," a quarterly biopsychosocialresearch update on HIV and mental health, is available online athttp://mentalhealthAIDS.samhsa.gov.

-Long Island Community Forum
Ending Transgender Discrimination - Wednesday, March 26th, 7pm
Please come and join a discussion about the Gender ExpressionNon-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and what we need to do to help make this NewYork State law in 2008. The Empire State Pride Agenda, LIGALY, SAGE, theGLBT Community Center and Gender Equality New York invite you to come to aforum that will bring together everyone in the Long Island communityinterested in passing this legislation.
jfriedman@prideagenda.org

-An Anthropologist Critiques Focus on the Family's "Anthropological" Reporton Marriage
Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Patrick M. Chapman,biological anthropologist and author of the forthcoming book, "Thou ShaltNot Love": What Evangelicals Really Say to Gays (Haiduk Press: 2008).
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/03/25/1692

-A Victory for Peeping Toms
It's "open season for peeping Toms," says an Oklaholma Court of CriminalAppeals judge -- the lone dissenting voice on a 4-to-1 decision in favor ofa 34-year-old perv who stuck his camera underneath a 16-year-old girl'sskirt and flashed.
http://www.alternet.org/story/80122/

-The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), thebookseller's voice in the fight against censorship, today condemned a newIndiana law that requires mainstream bookstores to register with thegovernment if they sell "sexually explicit materials." "Sexually explicit"is defined so broadly that the law could apply to bookstores that sellmainstream novels and other artistic works with sexual content as well aseducational books about sexuality and sexual health. H.B. 1042 was signedinto law last week by Governor Mitch Daniels. "It is un-American to forcebooksellers to register with the government based on the kinds of booksthey carry," ABFFE President Chris Finan said. "It is alsounconstitutional, and we intend to do everything we can to challenge thisviolation of the First Amendment rights of Indiana booksellers and theircustomers."


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Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrier
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Will Congress lift ban on HIV-positive visitors, immigrants?
The Senate this month is expected to consider whether to lift a ban onallowing HIV-positive people to visit and immigrate to the U.S. "There is noscientific basis whatsoever for the travel ban, and there never has been,"said Dr. Mark Kline, head of retrovirology at the Baylor College of Medicinein Houston and director of the school's AIDS International Training andResearch Program. "It was a political decision." Federal officials didn'treturn calls for comment. Houston Chronicle (3/23)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5641049.html

-Blogger: Conference to help people of color tap "Power of Us"
Blogger Pam Spaulding previews the "Power of Us," a major LGBT conference,to be hosted by the National Black Justice Coalition from April 24 to 26 inBaltimore. The event will include a training session on being a candidateand running a campaign for people of color that will be co-sponsored by TheVictory Fund's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute and the DemocraticNational Committee. Read more at Pam's House Blend.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4850


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Anything But Straight
by Wayne Besen

-A New Stage for the Sultan of Stigma
Since 1973, the once dreaded American Psychiatric Association has become anally of gay and lesbian equality. They have consistently withstood outsidepressure from right wing organizations and instead chose to do what was inthe best interest of GLBT mental health. Most notably, they endorsedsame-sex civil marriage in a groundbreaking 2005 position paper.
In 1997, the APA first addressed ex-gay (or reparative) therapy bystating, "The potential risks of 'reparative therapy' are great and includedepression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior - Further, APA calls onthese organizations and individuals to do all that is possible to decreasethe stigma related to homosexuality wherever and whenever it may occur."
In 2000, the APA issued an even stronger statement and recommended "thatethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals sexualorientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum, to 'first do no harm.'" Unfortunately, a terribly misguided gay psychiatrist, Dr. David L.Scasta, is violating the spirit - if not the letter - of APA policystatements.
http://www.waynebesen.com/


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Truth Wins Out

-TruthWinsOut.org Launches Dynamic Multi-Media Website Refuting the 'Ex-Gay'
Myth
Ex-Gay Watch Founder Michael Airhart To Blog Daily On Site
NEW YORK - TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) launched its innovative new website today,enhancing its ability to fight the ex-gay myth and right wing propaganda.
The site will be a leading educational resource and an all-encompassing lookat the dangerous world of conversion therapy. For years, the ex-gay industryhad dominated the flow of information on this topic. With this site, ourmovement has finally surpassed our opponents and we now have the means tocounter ex-gay lies and reach vulnerable people with messages of truth andhope.
www.TruthWinsOut.org


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NARL Pro-Choice America
www.ProChoiceAmerica.org

-Have you met the REAL McCain?
John McCain's anti-choice record is the best-kept secret in politics. ManyAmericans have no idea about McCain's unapologetic opposition to legalabortion, birth control, and accurate sex education. We need voters acrossthe country to meet the REAL McCain to make sure we win in November. Willyou help us reach our goal by telling us that you know the truth aboutMcCain? Please help NARAL Pro-Choice America harness our growingmomentum as we enter the most important presidential election of our time-bymaking as generous a donation as possible.

-HALL OF FAME AND HALL OF SHAME
FAME: Gov. Jim Doyle (D-Wisconsin)
NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and other advocates joined Gov. Doyle as hesigned a pro-choice bill into law on March 14. The governor's signaturemeans that every hospital in that state must provide rape victims withinformation about and access to emergency contraception. Hats off to NARALPro-Choice Wisconsin and their allies for this hard-fought win for women'shealth! Read More >>
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/277004

-SHAME: "Vote Yes for Life"
South Dakota's "Vote Yes for Life" is collecting signatures to put aninitiative on the November ballot that would ban abortion in South Dakota,even though voters rejected a ban in 2006. "Vote Yes for Life" leaders saythey will have enough signatures by the April 1 deadline to put theinitiative on the ballot.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080313/NEWS/803130302/1001/news

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