GLBT DIGEST April 20, 2008

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

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The Joy of Marriage Was Ours, for a While
GAY marriage was never my issue - until I actually tried it. A little more than four years ago I stood in the glorious, echoing rotunda of San Francisco City Hall, looking into my partner's eyes and vowing love forever.
Little did I grasp then that enthusiastically participating in this sunny rite of passage would expose me to its depressing shadow side. I surprised myself, getting married. I had boycotted the weddings of many straight friends (and political allies in our battle for equality), resenting them as one by one they chose to embrace their privilege, leaving us gays and lesbians stranded. In the subsequent years, the gay civil rights movement steadily inched forward, securing a few legal rights for couples that varied state by state. In California, my partner and I signed a benefitless domestic partnership registry in 2001, and then, a scant two years later, we were granted a whole lot of separate-but-nearly-equal benefits involving inheritance, medical issues, adoption and state taxation. It frankly seemed enough for me. I worried that the gay movement's focus on marriage was eclipsing our community's ability to ally with others on the global issues that increasingly fueled my own political passions: namely, environmental sustainability and economic justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/fashion/20love.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=gay&st=nyt&oref=slogin


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

-The Rev. John J. McNeill 'on the occasion of the Pope Coming to Town'
This editorial was written by John J. McNeill, author of The Church and The Homosexual, Taking A Chance on God, Freedom, Glorious Freedom, and Both Feet Planted Firmly in Midair.

Toward a Theology of Fallibility
When Pope Benedict comes to Ground Zero in New York City he will be greeted by a giant banner with a painting of Michael Judge, the Gay Franciscan priest, whose life is recorded in the documentary, Saint of 9/11. That banner signifies the ambiguous state of many Gay, Lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Catholics toward the Pope. We share the respect and love of the Catholic community for the Vicar of Christ and wish him well. At the same time we are profoundly aware of how wrong he is in his understanding and judgment on Gayness as "intrinsic disorder". We are deeply conscious that we cannot accept and live out his teaching on homosexuality without destroying our mental and spiritual health. What is bad psychology has to bebad theology. We find ourselves in the same position as children of a homophobic parent, who, while still loving their parent, must separate off and take distance from that parent's homophobia, if they are to live happy and healthy lives. We Roman Catholic Gays have found it necessary to undergo the same maturing process in our spiritual lives that Jesus asked his disciples to undergo at the last supper.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-All The President's Women and Men
If election 2008 sweeps a Democratic administration into office, who in our community might be walking the halls of the White House and weighing in on key policy decisions? The Advocate takes a look at some potential power players.
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid53553.asp


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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
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-'You're Going To Be Gay'
"Stereotypes are funny," said Shann Carr, stirring a cup of tea at Michael's Diner in Rancho Mirage. She flips her book open to a page of a girl in a football uniform. "It might not be politically correct, but sometimes stereotypes are there for a reason," she said.


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

-Illinois: A measure that aimed to extend survivor benefits to the same-sex partners of Chicago Public School teachers failed, 43-67, after a long debate. HB 4731 was sponsored by openly gay state Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, who vowed to keep fighting for its passage despite the setback.
The measure would have extended survivor benefits, at no cost to taxpayers, to the same-sex partners of Chicago Public School teachers who have passed away.

-I've been waiting. The media flavor of the month is the Texas polygamist compound. We've seen the children, shielded by sheets, removed from the compound. We've seen the women of the compound plead for the return of their children. We've seen people who have escaped the compound recount their experience. The media has generally focused on the report of abuse within the compound and the marriages of girls as young as 14 to men in their 50s.
I've been waiting for the same-sex marriage shoe to drop. Michael Graham of Boston's WTKK dropped it today. Michael was inquiring why Massachusetts' liberals were not supporting the polygamists. After all, Massachusetts is the home to same-sex marriage, so why wouldn't we support the polygamists of Texas?


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

-Straight male machismo underpins all tyranny
In a speech to the European Feminist Summit in London last month, activist and human rights advocate Peter Tatchell argued that by challenging traditional heterosexual masculinity, the queer emancipation movement can contribute to the liberation of all of humanity. Queer liberation is not a mere minority issue, nor purely a question of personal lifestyle, civil rights or sexual freedom. It is, or can be, socially transformative, with the potential to aid all emancipation struggles everywhere. Queers deviate from traditional masculinity. We reject the orthodox model of what it is to be a man. By so doing, we are sexual subversives who unravel the straight machismo that underpins all relations of oppression and exploitation.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7299.html


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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
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-Many in the international gay community are anxiously awaiting the release of HRW's gay Iran report, which was expected to be released in fall of 2006, because the report will greatly assist making life better for Iranian gay people. As we wait for the report to be made public, people interested in how HRW currently views the situation of gays in Iran should look at a video of a March 31 lecture at Harvard by HRW's gay director Scott Long. I think the eventual release of HRW's gay Iran report, along with the recent lecture, will do much good for the plight of Iranian gays and the global gay activist movement. Go here to access the link to the one-hour video of Long's lecture:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp/previous_events.html

-Chicago is finally organizing its first-ever IDAHO event on May 17th, focusing on solidarity with Russian LGBT people who are organizing the 3rd annual Moscow Pride, despite hostility of the authorities. Given that our Russian friends will be applying right around May 17th for a permit for their Pride event later in the month (May 31st), pressuring the Russian authorities at that time and letting them know that people around the world are watching will hopefully lessen any repression they might contemplate.


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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:
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-Psychiatrists: Let's Talk about Homosexuality
Psychiatric group will host 'historic' symposium on faith and therapy. Two social conservatives will share the stage with two pro-homosexual speakers in a notable attempt at a "balanced discussion" sponsored by theAmerican Psychiatric Association (APA). The pro-homosexual speakers - Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly homosexual Episcopalian in New Hampshire, and Dr. David Scasta, past president of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists - will seek "common ground and new perspectives" with two onservatives: the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of South Baptist Theological Seminary and a member of the Focus on the Family board of directors; and Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College. "The symposium acknowledges the role of religious belief as a core variable in the development of sexual identity," Throckmorton told citizenLink. "To my knowledge, this meeting, distinguished by diversity of religious viewpoints, is unprecedented at APA." The symposium is scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m. EDT, on Monday, May 5, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000007174.cfm

-This week in Washington Blade
http://www.washblade.com/


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From Transgender Equality
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-200 transgender rights advocates lobby Congress
Visitors from 29 states ask lawmakers to oppose gay-only ENDA
Nearly 200 transgender rights activists and their supporters descendedon Washington from 29 states this week to urge Congress to supportlegislation aimed at ending discrimination and violence.
Participants in a March 14 lobby day organized by the Washington-basedNational Center for Transgender Equality said they hoped to put asidethe sharp disagreements that surfaced last year over a decision byHouse Democratic leaders to remove transgender protections from theEmployment Non-Discrimination Act.
"Our lobbying will educate lawmakers about our lives, who we are andwhy we are working hard to end discrimination against all people butespecially people who face from discrimination because of their genderidentity," said Mara Keisling, the Center's executive director.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/4-17/news/national/4594.cfm


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