GLBT DIGEST - July 11, 2008

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

-Time to End 'Don't Ask'
A report on the ban on gays in the military adds to growing calls to repealthe prohibition. THE "DON'T ASK, don't tell" policy that continues the banon gay men and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. military was wrong whenPresident Clinton signed it into law in 1993, and it's wrong today. The onlydifference between then and now is that more people are now coming around tothat conclusion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071002721.html


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-'South Carolina is so gay'? State says no way
Officials pull overseas ad campaign to lure homosexual tourists
South Carolina's top tourism agency has canceled an overseas advertisingcampaign targeting gay tourists. The campaign, tied to gay pride weekcelebrations in London, included ads that proclaimed "South Carolina is sogay." A handful of other U.S. destinations joined the campaign, includingAtlanta, Boston and New Orleans.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-AIDS Activists Targeted Ahead Of China Olympics
(Beijing) Lu Jun, a campaigner for the rights of millions of Chinese withhepatitis B, seems an unlikely threat to the Beijing Olympics.

-Porn Producer Murder Trial Expected To Be Long, Drawn-Out, Sordid
The trial of two men accused of killing a gay porn producer they saw as acompetitor could last for several months and contain lurid details of howthe seamy underbelly of gay life operates.

-Massachusetts May Open Up Gay Marriage To Out-Of-Staters
A 1913 law used to bar same-sex couples from states which would notrecognize their marriages from marrying in Massachusetts could soon behistory.

-Lesbian Couple Sues Blue Cross
A Buffalo, New York lesbian couple is suing Blue Cross & Blue Shieldaccusing the insurer of contravening state policy in denying spousalbenefits.

-Police: Wis. Male Abductions, Rapes May Be Linked To Other Cases
Wisconsin authorities say they'll investigate whether a man accused ofkidnapping two young men and sexually assaulting them might be linked toother cases.


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

-Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle praises "responsible homosexuals"
Our beloved mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Jim Naugle, went on a radio talk showtoday and discussed the crop of candidates for his job--which includes twoout gay men, Dean Trantalis and Earl Rynerson. Naugle, always generous tohis opponents, acknowledged a "responsible homosexual" could win the officein Fort Lauderdale--meaning someone who recognizes "promiscuous activity hasa heavy cost on life and dollars,' by spreading pestilence and chaosthroughout society. Objectivelly speaking, it can be easier to deal withoutright bigots who simply state their views; when motives are masked bycondescending, passive-aggresive statements, like praises for "responsiblehomosexuals," the effect is disturbingly obtuse. It's a crafty weapon,stabbing someone in the back while smiling and claiming it's done with thebest intentions. Jerry Falwell mastered this technique. So has my friend'smother, who compliments her with statements like "You don't look as fat asusual." For those who are unfamiliar with his legacy: Naugle's claim tofame is his stance against "unhappy homosexuals," who engage in rampantsexual behavior and presumably spread sexually-transmitted diseases. Hewanted to install mechanized public toilets at the gay beaches, whichautomatically open their doors after a few minutes--preventing monkeybusiness from occurring amongst the porcelain bowls. But only at the gaybeaches; straight people never sin, right?
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=7/5/08&end=7/12/08#19631

-Gay Pride event stirs controvery at county council
Advocates call action discriminatory
TACOMA. WA: The Pierce County Council is being criticized for failing toadopt a proclamation supporting a gay pride event. Gay, lesbian, bisexual,and transgender community advocates have spoken against the council, callingits action discriminatory. Usually proclamations - in which governmentleaders show symbolic support - rarely face opposition in council meetings.But when a proclamation for Out in the Park was proposed to go on theagenda, four Republican council members voted against adding it. Those whovoted against the proclamation say the item was introduced too late.Council member Calvin Goings says the snub was embarrassing for the council.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=19629

-Mass. court: Gay couples can't claim past benefits
Ruling issued as part of malpractice case
The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that marriage benefits for gaycouples can't be applied retroactively to the time before same-sex marriagewas legalized in the state. The Supreme Judicial Court issued the ruling aspart of a malpractice case brought by Michelle Charron and Cynthia Kalish,who had lived as a couple for more than a decade before getting married assoon as it became legal in 2004.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=19625

-Abortion vs. Homosexuality for Young Evangelicals
The Obama campaign is, wisely, targeting young evangelicals. When talkingabout social issues of interest to evangelicals, we tend to lump abortionand homosexuality together. But the politics are actually different,especially among young evangelicals.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-waldman/abortion-vs-homosexuality_b_111921.html

-Truth Wins Out launches campaign to keep Daddy D out of the Radio Hall ofFame
I'm also up for nominating James Dobson for the fundie fraud Hall of Shame,but this will do for now. Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out has kicked off adrive to ensure that the mastermind behind Focus on the Anus will not beinghonored with a place in the Radio Hall of Fame by the Museum of BroadcastCommunications.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=CDD4F06CAFB1FAE944A43CD161CF782E?diaryId=6066


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

-Friend or foe?
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Jackson Memorial Hospital FRIEND
Once again Tammy Baldwin comes to the fore of the national discussion onequal rights, sexuality and gender identity. Last week the openly gayCongresswoman was appointed to be one of 20 members of the Platform DraftingCommittee at the Democratic National Convention. The committee isresponsible for developing a national a platform to be adopted at theconvention Aug. 26.
FOE
South Florida's largest medical center may have celebrated its 90thanniversary recently, but its treatment of gay families as evidenced by thedeath of visiting Seattle resident Lisa Pond says the center is indeed stuckin the dark ages. Hospital staff denied Pond's partner of 13 years, JaniceLangbehn, and three of their children visitation rights and would not allowthem to give medical information, as they did not acknowledge the women'srelationship. The hospital has yet to respond to the lawsuit filed by LambdaLegal on behalf of Langbehn. But as state voters face the issue of same-sexpartnerships and their families with Amendment 2, Jackson sets a shiningexample of the injustice and high stakes families such as Langbehn's faceeveryday.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/7-10/view/friendfoe/4857.cfm


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

-Castro District Exhibit to Celebrate LGBT History
An exhibit sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender HistoricalSociety is in the planning stages and will likely be set up in the Castrodistrict of San Francisco by late summer, according to a press release fromthe society.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid57474.asp

-Rice Honored for Helping Bulgarian HIV Nurses
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received Bulgaria's highest honor forurging the Libyan government to release five Bulgarian HIV medics from oneof its jails, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The Bulgarian nurses and aPalestinian doctor were sentenced to death for allegedly infecting over 400Libyan children with HIV. The group was released from jail last year afterthe European Union forged a deal with the Libyan government.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid57453.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-Marriage Advocates Hope to Repeal Old Law
State lawmakers are expected to vote next week on repealing a 1913 law thatprevents out-of-state gay and lesbian couples from getting married inMassachusetts, reigniting a divisive debate on an issue that has stirredpassions and put the state in the national spotlight. The Senate isexpected to take up the legislation Tuesday, and the House will followshortly afterward, according to several lawmakers. House Speaker SalvatoreF. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray favor the repeal, but theirsupport on such a hot-button social issue does not guarantee thatrank-and-file lawmakers will follow.

-Gay Games VIII to Expand and Redefine Drug Testing
Arguably the biggest and most historically important challenge facing theFederation of Gay Games and Cologne for 2010 is the introduction of thefirst real across-the-board drug testing ever done at the Gay Games. In thepast, drug testing has been limited to a handful of sports (physique,wrestling, and powerlifting). This go around, the Gay Games wants to flexits muscle to help mainstream sports become not just more accepting of gayathletes, but more accommodating of athletes with chronic medical concerns -especially HIV.

-Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo Rides Again
It's that time of year again; time for the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association'sannual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo. This year marks the 26th anniversaryof this amateur event and will feature 150 contestants from around NorthAmerica. Beginning on Friday, July 11, the events include rough stock,including bull riding and bronco riding; roping events; and speed andhorsemanship events. Because it is a gay rodeo, the Jefferson CountyFairgrounds wouldn't be the same without a few signature events, includinggoat dressing and wild drag races.

-Uganda: Gays Want to Kill Me, Says Orombi
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi yesterday said he fears for his life because ofthe campaign he has waged against homosexuals. "Nowadays, I don't wear mycollar when I am in countries which have supporters of homosexuals," he saidwhile addressing Christians at Kitunga archdeaconry, West Ankole diocese inNtungamo district.


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

-Gay marriage is nobody's business but the couple's
Link: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Marriage is a way to truly show your level of commitment and love in arelationship, as well as to erase many legal problems you might come acrossas a couple. No matter how orthodox and strict your own ideology may be, youstill should not impose it, and the thousands of laws and customs that comewith it, upon anyone else.

-McCain plays gay card, will Obama ante up?
Link: Bay Windows
Late last month a group of about 100 movers and shakers on the religiousright met in Denver and agreed to support Sen. John McCain's presidentialcampaign. To those who followed the 2004 presidential race news of McCain'srecent efforts to woo the culture warriors of the religious right provokedan awful sense of déjà vu. One of those power players, Phil Burress of theOhio-based Citizens for Community Values, told the Washington Times that hehad met with McCain and that the Arizona senator had promised "to makejudicial appointments that will resemble that of Chief Justice John G.Roberts Jr. and Justice Antonin Scalia, to 'get serious' on abortion andsame-sex marriage, and to push values issues in general."


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

-South Carolina gets cold feet over gay Tube adverts
The tourism agency of a US state has distanced itself from an advert onLondon Underground designed to attract gay tourists. "South Carolina is sogay," proclaimed posters in one Tube station.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8329.html

-Dancing With The Stars may feature gay couple
Openly gay former boy band icon Lance Bass could Tango his way intohomosexual history becoming the first celebrity to dance his way up theDancing with the Stars' ladder-with another man. [...] It would be thefirst time a same-sex couple danced together on that stage and Bass could bethe one to cross that threshold and open the door to a male couple tearingup the dance floor together.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8323.html

-Video: Obama accepts Jesse Jackson's apology for castration comments
Apologies flew from Reverend Jesse Jackson to presumptive DemocraticPresidential nominee Barack Obama on Wednesday over remarks he made aboutthe Illinois Senator on Fox News.

-Pride London 2008 attended by 825,000 people
Official figures released today reveal that the capital hosted one oflargest Pride events in the world last weekend.


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Forwarded from Gays Without Borders
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-I have made now the English subtitles of the movie "Tehranian Condemned toDeath". Check this short video.
http://www.dailymotion.com/tag/Daho/video/x62mmx_tehranian-condemned-to-death_shortfilms

-"There Are No Gays in Iran": But, Ireland's Sending One Back!
It was reported in the Irish press that Ireland plan to deport an Iraniannational back to Iran despite his life being in danger because he is gay. Itis reported that "the deputy Iranian Foreign Minister said [in the IrishParliament] last week said they will not do it from a crane on the back of alorry anymore but they will still do it." refering to the execution of gaypeople that return to Iran. Senator Norris, the man that took the case tothe European Court of Human Rights to legalise homosexuality in Ireland,said in the Senate "What are we doing and where is the accountability? Inthe name of the Oireachtas [Irish Parliament], I demand that the practice ofdeporting a person under those conditions should be ceased immediately."
http://thisiswhatiwoulddo.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/there-are-gays-in-iran-but-irelands-sending-one-back/


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Anything but Straight
by Wayne Besen
http://www.waynebesen.com/

-The Pro-Family Scheme
The last few weeks have shown that so-called pro-family organizations aresome of the most useless, money-sucking scams in the world. With realfamilies suffering from economic hardship in America, a declining birthratein Europe and Google doubling the price of daycare for employees, the onlything right wing family groups want to discuss is their bizarre andall-encompassing fagela fetish. Recently, The Brooklyn Paper, had a hugeheadline, "SPLITSVILLE: Brooklyn divorces up 30%." The article cited anumber of reasons including, "when the economy tanks, so do many marriages."One would think this would alarm so-called pro-family organizations and theywould be out in force repairing marriages - or at least looking for economicsolutions to take the stress off couples. Unfortunately, as I walked aroundmy Brooklyn neighborhood, I saw not one representative from the AmericanFamily Association. Well, I take that back. I did encounter one of thegroup's representatives on CNN Headline News as we debated a Heinzmayonnaise ad in the United Kingdom that featured two men kissing. I'm surethe children of these broken marriages in Brooklyn will feel much betterknowing Heinz pulled the ad and they can have gay-free mayonnaise at bothmommy and daddy's separate houses.
http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/07/pro-family-scheme.html

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