GLBT NEWS Sunday, June 1, 2008

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

-Gay rights activists defy authorities with rallies
MOSCOW (AP) -- Gay rights activists held small, scattered protests in Moscow on Sunday, flouting repeated refusals from city authorities for permission to hold parades or demonstrations. Activists repeatedly have tried to hold parades and rallies in the Russian capital to call attention to gay rights.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has called homosexuality ''satanic,'' has refused them permission. On Sunday, a small group of protesters gathered outside the famed Tchaikovsky music conservatory, chanting ''No to homophobia'' and other slogans, organizer Nikolai Alexeyev told Ekho Moskvy radio. Hundreds of riot police and journalists ringed the square in front of City Hall just a few blocks away in anticipation of a larger protest that had been promised but never materialized. Supporters unfurled a banner from a building over the square reading ''Rights For Gays and Lesbians!'' before police pulled it down.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Russia-Gay-Rights.html?scp=7&sq=gay&st=
nyt

-Marriage Partners
The recent California Supreme Court decision granting gays the right to marry creates a novel predicament. In November, California voters will quite likely have to decide whether to take marriage away from gay couples rather than whether to grant it to them. If Golden State voters decide to preserve that right, the freedom to marry will no longer be the product of “activist judges” but will acquire a democratic imprimatur. This high-stakes vote squarely poses the question of whether and how gays can get the support of straights on this issue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/magazine/01wwln-idealab-t.html?scp=8&sq=gay&st
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

- The Insider Is Out
In 2006 a blog announced to the world that Thomas Roberts is gay, and the then CNN anchor instantly became the poster boy for a very rare breed: the out news anchor. But as Sean Kennedy reports, the success of Roberts and other out anchors and on-air talent may finally shatter their industry’s glass ceiling for gays -- and usher in the future of broadcast news.
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid53765.asp


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

- "Gay Lifestyles: Is It Hip To Be Square?" by Jesse Monteagudo
In his New York Times (April 27, 2008) feature story "Young Gay Rites," the delightfully-named Benoit Denizen-Lewis wrote about the "normal" world of young, white, married gay men in Massachusetts, till recently the only American state that allowed same-sex marriage. Unlike previous gay generations, Denizen-Lewis wrote, "gay teenagers are coming out earlier and are increasingly able to experience their gay adolescence. That, in turn, has made them more likely to feel normal. Many young gay men don't see themselves as all that different from their heterosexual peers, and many profess to want what they've long seen espoused by mainstream American culture; a long-term relationship and the chance to start a family."

-LA Pride Entertainment
Christopher Street West proudly presents two full nights of musical entertainment at the LA PRIDE Festival June 6-8, 2008. Saturday night, June 7, British singing sensation Joss Stone headlines an array of acts, while on Sunday, June 8, superstar Olivia Newton-John caps off a day-long musical lineup. "Anyone who attends the LA PRIDE Festival this weekend is in for a marvelously diverse collection of recording artists," said Gaye Ann Bruno, Vice President of Entertainment. "Joss Stone is a brilliant young artist, and Olivia Newton-John is loved around the world. LA PRIDE has something for everyone," Bruno continued.

-Fla. Man Claims Entrapment
Like most gay men who are arrested for solicitation, public indecency or lewd and lascivious behavior, Fort Lauderdale resident Mike M. does not want anyone to know about his encounter with undercover police in Holiday Park last August. But unlike most of the people who are charged with misdemeanor counts of exposure of sex organs and battery (the court dropped prostitution charges), Mike refuses to quietly plead guilty. He does not want to make a plea deal with city attorneys who are prosecuting the case vigorously. He’s indignant about not paying a fine, attending a counseling program, or having this arrest mar his otherwise spotless record. He wants Broward County Judge Gary Cowart to dismiss all charges because, he alleges, the city illegally entrapped him by having an officer aggressively pursue him for sex and prostitution. The case has dragged on for months with the city asking for continuances, while detectives from Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s task force that works narcotics and public sex stings testified about the events surrounding the case, and Fort Lauderdale city attorney Scott Walker has moved to keep the charges intact.

-Christian Musician Finds Happiness Forming Gay Choir
Rich Cook had it all: a dream job in his chosen field, Christian music; a solid marriage and three adoring daughters; a home in Orange County, a paradise in his eyes, worlds away from his New Jersey roots. But something was wrong. "I'd been around a long time, and I knew what it was," said Cook,63. "I had to do something. The bottom line was changes had to be made."

-Building Marriage Equality with Lawrence v. Texas
Lambda Legal's victory in Lawrence v. Texas torpedoed what was long ago christened the "gay exception" to the law, when courts abdicate their judicial role and impose personal or popular ideas of morality against the communities we serve. Nowhere is Lawrence's recognition of the judiciary's appropriate role more apparent than in our cases seeking the freedom to marry. We saw it first surface in Massachusetts, and most recently in California (for the full landscape, see our Relationships Resources Page).

-Top Prosecutor Moves to Block First Gay Marriage in Greece by Island Mayor
Greece's top public prosecutor on Friday moved to block a gay marriage ceremony after a mayor on a tiny Greek island said he was willing to perform one. Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas is trying to stop a ceremony expected to take place this summer on the east Aegean Sea island of Tilos — issuing a directive to prosecutors saying same-sex marriages were illegal.

-Michigan: Ferndale Prepares for Crowd at Gay Pride Festival
Motorists in downtown Ferndale should be aware of streets closings for the eighth annual Motor City Pride. The state's largest gay and lesbian festival is expecting more than 35,000 patrons Sunday, organizers said. To enable music stages to be set up and taken down, West 9 Mile will close from Woodward to Planavon at 8 p.m. today and reopen about 10 p.m. Sunday.


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

-I couldn’t get a straight answer out of Kern County
Auditor/Controller/County Clerk Ann Barnett about gay marriage. I heard a rumor that Barnett held a staff meeting after the California State Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriages on May 15 and said she would not allow them in Kern County because of her personal beliefs. So I asked Barnett. “My staff meetings are confidential so I will neither confirm nor deny that information,” she tersely told me. Oh, no. Wrong answer. Barnett is the elected official in charge of issuing marriage licenses and performing civil ceremonies in Kern County. Her constituents deserve to know where she stands on this issue and if she’s going to follow the law.

-New Hampshire no longer is asking the California Supreme Court to delay finalizing its ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. [...] However, on Saturday, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte announced that New Hampshire was withdrawing from the request because the state addresses the recognition issue in its civil union law. She said under the law, New Hampshire will recognize a legal gay marriage from California as a civil union.


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

-Scottish government pledges extra funds for gay schemes
The Scottish government is to award £6.1m of extra funding to equality groups including those aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community.


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