GLBT DIGEST - June 16, 2008

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

-The Empire Zone: Stance on Same-Sex Marriage Brings Surprises for Paterson
Gov. David A. Paterson's decision to direct state agencies to recognizemarriages of same-sex couples elevated his status in the eyes of many gaysand lesbians to something of a celebrity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/nyregion/16empire.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=gay&st=nyt&oref=slogin


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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-Marry You? Just Ax Me
One of the lesser-known reasons behind the opposition to same-sex marriage:The gays are going to totally upstage the straights when it comes tooutrageous, attention-getting public marriage proposals. We got a littledose of this toward the end of D.C. Capital Pride Week when Joe Matessa, 38,proposed to Billy Molasso, 37, at an outdoor screening of the Joan Crawfordkitsch-horror classic "Strait-Jacket" at Hillwood Estate Friday, in front of300 people waving glitter-covered plastic hatchets (Crawford plays an axmurderer) and wire hangers. (Matessa, full disclosure, works in ad sales atThe Post; his boyfriend is a professor at GWU. They'll have a commitmentceremony in the fall.) JumboTron? How quaint.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061502188.html?sub=AR

-Outlook: Long Road Remains for Gay Marriage
California's Gay Marriage Fight Distracts From Real Struggle in Washington"This week should be a joyous one for those of us who believe in the rightto marry the person you love. A month after the California Supreme Courtoverturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, gay couples will walk intocounty offices here and secure the same marriage license to whichheterosexual couples such as my wife and I are entitled. ... Gay rightssupporters should toast the happy couples, but they might want to waitbefore raising a glass to the state. The ruling will hardly changeCalifornia, a place blissfully devoted to its live-and-let-live ethos. ButCalifornia -- with its dysfunctional politics and government -- may hurt thecause of same-sex marriage. ... For gay couples and their supporters,California could become an expensive, time-consuming quagmire -- gaymarriage's Vietnam."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/06/13/DI2008061302699.html

-California Gay Marriage: The Ruling and One Couple's ViewUniversity ofCalifornia law professor Larry Levine, a frequent panelist, lecturer, andspeaker on legal issues involving torts and sexual orientation, will beonline Monday, June 16 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the implementation of therecent California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage, and thefight ahead. He'll be joined by Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, plaintiffs inthe Supreme Court lawsuit who have been partners for 21 years and will getmarried early Monday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/06/13/DI2008061302905.html

-THE DISTRICT: At the Foot of the Capitol, Capital Pride
Gay Justice Department employees. Gay Orthodox Christians. Gay antique carcollectors. If you were gay and on Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday, there wasa booth for you at the Capital Pride festival, which has grown into a merrystreet party during its 33 years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061501891.html

-Drugstores Market Their Beliefs
"Pro-life" pharmacies are part of growing tension between rights ofpatients, health-care workers. [...] When DMC Pharmacy opens this summeron Route 50 in Chantilly, the shelves will be stocked with allergy remedies,pain relievers, antiseptic ointments and almost everything else sold in anydrugstore. But anyone who wants condoms, birth control pills or the Plan Bemergency contraceptive will be turned away. That's because the drugstore,located in a typical shopping plaza featuring a Ruby Tuesday, a Papa John'sand a Kmart, will be a "pro-life pharmacy" -- meaning, among other things,that it will eschew all contraceptives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061502180.html?hpid=topnews


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-Lesbian couple of 55 years ready to say 'I do'
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin fell in love at a time when lesbians riskedbeing arrested, fired from their jobs and sent to electroshock treatment.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_top11jun16,0,799386.story

-What does gay look like? Science keeps trying to figure that out
Finding common biological traits -- things like hair growth patterns, penissize, family makeup -- might one day shed light on the origins of sexualorientation. With body paint, Israeli men made their sexual orientationeasy to see at the Gay Pride Parade on June 6 in Tel Aviv. But what aboutinnate traits that might correlate with homosexuality? Finding andsolidifying such links isnÂ?t easy. Studies contradict each other, and somepromising paths donÂ?t pan out. But the result could be insight intobiological origins of homosexuality.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/la-he-sex16-2008jun16,0,4755519.story


Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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-ROSIE O'DONNELL: Year's healing puts things in perspective
A year ago, Rosie O'Donnell's much-debated run on ABC's The View ended, asshe puts it, ''in haste.'' And her healing began almost immediately, in thespace of one phone call. 'Cyndi [Lauper] called me and said, `Hey, you looklike you wanna have some fun. Let's go on tour!' '' the comic recalls. ``Andthree days later, I was on the road. It made everything a lot easier interms of my transition and my sanity.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/people/story/570859.html


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

-Lt. Sulu From Star Trek To Beam Down And Ruin The American Family
George Takei, who played Lt. Sulu on the original Star Trek, will finally beable to marry his life partner of 21 years, Brad Altman. Takei, a JapaneseAmerican, was interned in a prison camp during World War 2, sadly becomingfamiliar with discrimination at an early age. Determined to get on with hislife in the land of the free, he became best known for his role as Lt. Suluin the original Star Trek. (as if there is any other kind of Star Trek!)

-Gay Sex Book Stirs Up
Trouble For C'ville Bookstore
A book about gay sex left open on a table at a Barnes & Noble bookstore inCollierville has outraged a conservative Christian talk radio host whohappened upon it with his 11-year-old son. Brannon Howse, 39, now is waginga campaign demanding that the nation's largest bookseller keep such itemsbehind a counter or in an area for adults only.


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

-Church Angered Over Civil Partnership Of Priests
The Bishop of London has ordered an investigation into a wedding-like churchservice for two male priests.

-Calif. Gay Weddings Set To Begin
City worker Eileen Shields usually spends her days answering questions about
West Nile Virus, bed bugs and other health concerns, but today she'll be oneof hundreds of volunteers at City Hall helping same-sex couples tie theknot.

-Same-Sex Marriages In Calif. To Affect Other States
After wedding-day celebrations subside, gay and lesbian couples from otherstates who marry starting this week in California face sobering challenges.

-Move To Broaden Chicago Gay Partner Benefits
An openly gay Chicago alderman is proposing changes to the city's domesticpartner benefits plan to ensure that the partners of city workers remaininsured if they marry in California.

-Straight Couples Rush To Wed Before Ban Goes Into Effect
Heterosexual couples are rushing to get married in a conservative Californiacounty that plans to halt all civil wedding ceremonies as gay marriage isset to be legalized.

-Bingham Cup Attracts Gay Teams From Around The World
Hundreds of sports enthusiasts from around the world are in Dublin thisweekend for the gay rugby world cup.


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

-Gov. David A. Paterson's decision to direct state agencies to recognizemarriages of same-sex couples elevated his status in the eyes of many gaysand lesbians to something of a celebrity. But Mr. Paterson, below, hasunexpectedly discovered that some of the people who are most grateful to himfor issuing the order are, in fact, parents with a gay son or a lesbiandaughter. The governor said in an interview last week that he had beenapproached by several people who expressed their gratitude. "What struck mewere the straight people who came up to me," he said. "This has happenedfour or five times since. They'll say: 'We're so glad you did this. Ourdaughter is gay or our son is gay.' I found that to be so very touching."

-When Therese Stewart, San Francisco's chief deputy city attorney, stoodbefore the state Supreme Court on March 4 to make the case for same-sexmarriage, the stakes were monumental - the rights of hundreds of thousandsof gays and lesbians across the nation and the passions of millions on bothsides of the debate. Not to mention her own marital future with her partnerof 16 years, attorney Carole Scagnetti.


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

-Bishop to investigate following gay priest's resignation for "marrying" hispartner in church
One of the gay priests who caused controversy over the weekend for marryinghis partner, also a member of the clergy in what was in effect the first gaymarriage in a British church has resigned. The Bishop of London is toinvestigate the incident.

-Irish Queer Archive donates 'massive collection' to the National Library ofIreland
The National Lesbian and Gay Federation (NLGF) has today formally handedover the Irish Queer Archive (IQA) to the National Library of Ireland (NLI).

-Amy Winehouse in hot water after shocking video found
Video taped footage of troubled British soul singer Amy Winehouse in a crackden singing racist chants and performing sexual acts with her husband hasallegedly been obtained by tabloid News of the World, FOX News is reporting.


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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Blade Wins Three Journalism Awards
The Washington Blade won three Dateline Awards this week from the D.C.chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Lou Chibbaro Jr.,senior news reporter for the paper, won second place in the spot news-weeklycategory for, "Probe continues into deaths of two gay D.C. visitors." Thestory broke news about the investigation into the mysterious deaths of twoNew York gay men who had traveled to Washington separately and whose bodieswere found days apart in the same apartment.

-NY Working Families Party Endorses Marriage Equality
New York State's Working Families Party on June 11 announced its support formarriage equality for same-sex couples. The WFP, for the past decade, hasused its endorsements and its political and public education efforts to movethe two major parties - principally the Democrats - toward stronger supportof issues of concern to organized labor and working class New Yorkersgenerally.


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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

-Judge sees equal rights for gays, lesbians
California Chief Justice Ronald George is prepared for the voters' verdicton his ruling legalizing same-sex marriages - but whatever comes thisautumn, he says it won't be long before most Californians accept equalrightsfor gays and lesbians as a matter of course. In an interview about thecourt's May 15 decision overturning the state's marriage law, George drewcomparisons to another historic 4-3 ruling 60 years earlier that struck downCalifornia's ban on interracial marriage. That ruling is no longercontroversial, but it was a different story then. The 1948 court was farahead of public opinion both nationally and in California, where 16 yearslater the voters amended their Constitution to authorize racialdiscrimination in real estate sales. Both the state's and the nation's highcourts later ruled that initiative unconstitutional.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/MNOO114P1O.DTL&o=0&type=printable


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Detroit News
http://detnews.com/
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-Black governors show how to accept gays by Deb Price
Last year, a young African-American told her parents something that can't gounspoken for long in a close-knit family: "I'm a lesbian." Her fatherimmediately responded, "We love you," and her mother felt a relief rushbecause she'd feared bad news. The family hugged. "It was the easiestcoming out experience that anyone could possibly have," the lesbian teenlater recalled. " ... I've been closer to my parents since comingout...."Her story might not seem remarkable in a world where millions ofheterosexual women comfortably spend their TV time with funny gal EllenDeGeneres and personal finance wiz Suze Orman, both openly gay. But thiscoming-out story took place in one of America's most prominent blackpolitical families. Deval Patrick, the dad, is governor of Massachusetts.The mom is Diane. And the daughter is 18-year-old Katherine.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/OPINION03/806160319

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