GLBT DIGEST April 21, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
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-Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, 72, Dies in Rome
Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the Vatican's leading voice in defense oftraditional family values and in opposition to abortion, contraception andgay marriage, died of cardiac arrest on Saturday in Rome, the Vatican saidSunday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/europe/21trujillo.html?sq=GAY&st=nyt&scp=2&pagewanted=print


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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-Benedict: Protect Children from Future Abuse
A papal apology to those sexually abused by Catholic priests is certainlylong overdue and it is good that Pope Benedict met with some of the victimsof sexual abuse by priests on his U.S. trip.But as Mother Jones was fond ofsaying, "Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living." We need toknow from Pope Benedict how future abuse will be stopped. Bernie McDaid, oneof the survivors of priestly sexual abuse who met with the Pope, rightlycalled attention to the fact that this abuse is still going on and willcontinue to go on unless something is done about it. He said in an interviewwith CNN that he told the pope he was an altar boy when he was abused and"it wasn't just sexual abuse, it was spiritual abuse. And I want you to knowthat. And then I told him that he has a cancer growing in his ministry, andneeds to do something about it." This cancer has not been eradicated, andindeed, it may be getting worse because Benedict himself, as well as theVatican leaders, do not seem to understand what are the root causes ofpriestly abuse of children, both boys and girls.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/susan_brooks_thistlethwaite/2008/04/benedict_protect_children_from.html


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Steve Rothaus
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/
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-GayWired.com: Media Milestones -- The Evolution of the Gay Press
Political scientists sometimes suggest the greatest predictor of anyAmerican's political affiliation is really pretty simple. Just ask how hisor her parents are registered.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/04/gaywiredcom-med.html


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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
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-Obama Leads Campaign Cash Race
(Washington) Barack Obama began the month of April with a 5-1 cash advantageover a debt-saddled Hillary Rodham Clinton, setting the stage for hislopsided spending in the crucial primary state of Pennsylvania.

-Clinton, Obama Mount Attack Ads In Countdown To Pa. Primary
(Johnstown, Pennsylvania) Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama areswapping some of the most negative attacks of the campaign, each unleashingtelevision ads that accuse the other of maintaining ties to specialinterests they both claim to reject.

-Poll: Economy Top Issue, But Barely Affecting Poll
(Washington) The economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on theminds of voters. But do the growing economic worries give a particular edgeto any presidential candidate? Not so far, according to an AssociatedPress-Yahoo News poll released Monday.

-Mob Ransacks Rome Gay Center
(Rome) Rome police are searching for members of a mob of youths who burstinto the city's LGBT center, ransacking the building.

-Colombia Court Gives More Rights To Gay Couples
(Bogota) Colombia's Colombia's Constitutional Court has ruled that thegovernment must extend pension benefits to same-sex partners.


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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
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-London: Livingstone Launches Gay Policies
After a successful trip to Soho earlier this week Ken Livinsgtone haslaunched his lesbian and gay manifesto, "Making London the most lesbian andgay friendly city in the world". The document contains 20 key pledges forthe LGBT community including a promise to working with schools and employersto stamp out homophobic bullying and homophobia.

-Vigil Held For Gay Priest Killed On 9/11
A special tribute to Fire Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who died onSeptember 11th, was held Saturday night ahead of the pope's visit to the World Trade Center site. Those inattendance urged Pope Benedict XVI to remember the openly-gay priest.

-Feisty Vancouver Gay Bookstore That Challenged Canada Customs up For Sale
They've been bombed three times, received death threats and stood before thered-robed justices of the Supreme Court of Canada. No, Jim Deva and BruceSmyth are not killers or terrorists. The soft-spoken Vancouver men sellbooks. And in some peoples' eyes, Deva says, that made the gay owners ofLittle Sister's Book & Art Emporium dangerous.

-The Gay Man's Search for Sex and Love Online
It seems everyone is looking for love in all the wrong places. And if youbelieve the latest research from the LOGO Channel, 48-percent of gay menclaim they're looking for "love" on line. With such a high demand, thereseems to be an ever-growing supply of places to look. That's right: Gone arethe days when you actually had to leave your house to meet that specialsomeone. Now you can just log on and click to your favorite site to find Mr.Right, or in most cases, Mr. Right Now.

-Passage of Transgender Law Shows How K.C. Has Evolved
April 3 was a historic day in Kansas City. But first, a littleher-to-history lesson will help you appreciate that day even more. As youmay know, in the late 1980s, the Kansas City, Mo., City Council debated anordinance that would have added sexual orientation to the list of protectedclasses under the city's existing anti-discrimination ordinance (whichcovers employment, housing, lending, public accommodations, etc.). Accordingto the Kansas City Star reports I have read, the proposed ordinance was verycontroversial. Hundreds of pro-gay-rights and anti-gay-rights activistsreportedly crowded into the Council's chamber each time the ordinance wasdiscussed. Ultimately, the Council voted, 8-5, to send the measure back tocommittee, effectively killing it. One of those City Council members votingto return the measure was then-Councilman (now U.S. Rep.) Emanuel Cleaver.

-My Night on the Tiles With Chelsea
Her dad was just the same. The agreement was to meet at Bump at 10 first,before hitting the other bars and clubs of Philadelphia's gaybourhood,including Sisters, a lesbian joint, and finally Woodies, the biggest andmost popular of them all. But it's 11 and my fag-hag for the night (I amsure she wouldn't mind the term) is missing in action.

- 'You're Going To Be Gay'
"Stereotypes are funny," said Shann Carr, stirring a cup of tea at Michael'sDiner in Rancho Mirage. She flips her book open to a page of a girl in afootball uniform. "It might not be politically correct, but sometimesstereotypes are there for a reason," she said.

-Senate Backs Gay-and-Lesbian Anti-Discrimination Protection
The Senate gave initial backing to expanding anti-discrimination protectionsfor gays and lesbians on Friday. The measure (Senate Bill 200) takes thestate's current anti-discrimination laws and adds sexual orientation to thelist of things, such as race or national origin, that can't be considered.
It would be illegal to deny gays and lesbians everything from apartmentrentals and a seat in a restaurant to burial plots.


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Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
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-Pennsylvania: Not to flog a dead horse, or rather a horse that is stillgalloping along but ought to be dead, we suggest that last week's prize forwaste of the public's time should go to the state Senate Judiciary Committeehearing in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse. The hearing wason Senate Bill 1250, a proposed state constitutional amendment that wouldban same-sex marriage or "the functional equivalent of marriage" for gays,in other words, civil unions. Gay marriage in Pennsylvania has been outlawedfor a dozen years but that explains only a part of the folly.

-UTICA - For Melissa Clark, there has been frustrations, disappointments anddiscrimination throughout her life. But she has refused to let anything holdher back. Melissa Clark is a transgender woman. At Friday's Pride along theMohawk meeting to push for equal marriage rights for the lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender community, Clark said she was ready for yet anotheruphill battle. Current New York State law does not allow for same-sexmarriages. Clark's partner is a woman, and because Clark is transgender,they are a lesbian couple who can't marry or raise children the same way asa heterosexual couple.


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
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-UK: Online gay museum opens for business
Museum professionals have feted the launch of the online national LGBTmuseum Proud Heritage. The website has its first working day open to thepublic today. Plans for a physical museum were discussed at the Stonewallhustings for the candidates for Mayor of London on Saturday.

-Russians protest their country's gay blood ban
Activists in Russia have written to the country's Ministry of Health to askwhy previous assurances that regulations banning gay men from donating areto be removed have not resulted in action.

-Website celebrates Africa's gay heroes
A Supreme Court judge, an HIV treatment campaigner and an anti-apartheidactivist all feature on a new website highlighting African heroes. All threeare from South Africa.
The website, africansuccess.org, was created by Kadija Traoré Bush.

-N'Sync star speaks out for Day of Silence
Proudly out former boy band star Lance Bass speaks out against gaydiscrimination in a new public service announcement for the Gay, Lesbian andStraight Education Network released this week.

-Gay bishop to attend Lambeth conference despite previous rejection
The most senior openly gay cleric in the Anglican Communion, Gene Robinsonintends to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference to be held in Caterburydespite previously refusing to.


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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
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-UK: Proud Heritage Museum web site
This was launched this weekend. Principally of interest to Brits buthope other will take an interest.
http://www.proudheritage.org/home/content


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OUTSpoken Families
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-Thursday, April 24 is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day!
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is upon us! For over fifteen years,organizers of the yearly event have encouraged parents to show theirchildren not only what they do for a living but also how their children canbegin to envision their own adults lives with families, careers and otherresponsibilities. Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is also anopportunity for LGBTQ-headed families to show the joy and diversity offamily constellations to colleagues and co-workers. Simply introducingyourself as LGBTQ and a parent to people at work will spark thought andconversations about what it truly means for employers and co-workers tosupport the family lives of the people they work with. .... If youparticipate, let us know. Share your story by sending an email toOUTSpoken@familyequality.org!
www.familyequality.org/

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