GLBT DIGEST - July 24, 2008

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

-Defending Our Values
Did you know that your safety and security depend on gay men and lesbians?An estimated 65,000 gay men and lesbians serve in the U.S. armed forces,though by law they cannot be open about their sexuality. As we fight twowars, our military is stretched thin. Those gay and lesbian soldiers,sailors, airmen, Marines and members of the Coast Guard are essential.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072302904.html

-Sorry We Asked, Sorry You Told
Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly totell you what she thinks about gays in the military. The House ArmedServices personnel subcommittee made just such a miscalculation yesterday.Holding the first hearing in 15 years on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy,lawmakers invited a quartet of veterans to testify on the subject and alsoextended an invitation to Donnelly, who has been working for years toprotect our fighting forces from the malign influence of women.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303642.html

-Defending Our Values
Did you know that your safety and security depend on gay men and lesbians?
An estimated 65,000 gay men and lesbians serve in the U.S. armed forces,though by law they cannot be open about their sexuality. As we fight twowars, our military is stretched thin. Those gay and lesbian soldiers,sailors, airmen, Marines and members of the Coast Guard are essential. [...]Did you know that your safety and security depend on gay men and lesbians?An estimated 65,000 gay men and lesbians serve in the U.S. armed forces,though by law they cannot be open about their sexuality. As we fight twowars, our military is stretched thin. Those gay and lesbian soldiers,sailors, airmen, Marines and members of the Coast Guard are essential.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072302904.html

-A Shameful Ban
The United States should end a prohibition against HIV-positive visitors andimmigrants.
A PLAN THAT would direct about $50 billion over the next five years to haltthe spread of HIV-AIDS in developing countries has dodged multiplechallenges from Republican lawmakers and is set to become one of the Bushadministration's finest accomplishments. The Senate voted overwhelminglylast week to approve the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief(PEPFAR), and the House is expected to do the same as early as today. Butone of PEPFAR's most significant provisions, the elimination of a21-year-old ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants that puts the UnitedStates in the company of countries such as Libya and Sudan, may not takeeffect even if the legislation passes. The bill leaves to the Department ofHealth and Human Services (HHS) the decision as to whether HIV-positivevisitors may enter the country. HHS officials have previously expressed awillingness to remove the ban but may delay a decision until the nextadministration takes office.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303315.html


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

-A Conference of Anglican Leaders Confronts Deeply Divisive Issues
Actions by the U.S. Episcopal Church test the durability of the AnglicanCommunion
It was not the most joyous of starts for the Lambeth Conference, theonce-every-10-year gathering of the bishops of the 77 million-memberAnglican Communion in Canterbury, England. Speaking last Sunday at theformal opening ceremony in the city's storied cathedral, the Archbishop ofCanterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, observed that the globalassociation of Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church of theUnited States, faced the most serious challenge of its history.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/07/23/a-conference-of-anglican-leaders-confronts-deeply-divisive-issues.html

-Laguna Beach council opposes ban on gay marriage
The City Council votes unanimously to oppose Prop. 8 on the November ballot.'Laguna has a live-and-let-live attitude,' a councilwoman says. LagunaBeach, long a gay-friendly community, followed Los Angeles' lead as one ofthe first cities to reject a ballot measure that would ban same-sexmarriage.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marriage24-2008jul24,0,4080471.story

-North Carolina: Anti-bullying law would have sent strong message
Every student deserves a safe school environment to learn. Of the failureof N.C. lawmakers to approve a statewide school bullying policy thissession, we'll let Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Fayetteville, speak for us. "Ithink, sadly, the Senate was truly bullied on the bullying bill," he said oflegislation the N.C. House had approved earlier. "Much to the detriment ofschool children, the politics of bigotry and hate won out." He's right.Unfortunately, we in Charlotte could see it coming. That's because a fewmonths ago, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board approved a beefed upanti-bullying policy, and some of the same forces worked to derail it. TheCMS policy, like the one N.C. lawmakers debated as late as last week,included sexual orientation among the characteristics school districts useto identify students who are possible targets of bullying.
http://www.charlotte.com/opinion/story/723896.html

-Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Telling My Story to Congress
Last year, one of the first times I told my story was here on HuffingtonPost and I was overwhelmed by the positive and supportive response. I'vefound the same is true as I've traveled around the country talking about theneed to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-alva/dont-ask-dont-tell-tellin_b_114561.html

-George Michael talks about losing his partner to AIDS, the death of hismother, getting caught cruising in a bathroom in a park in Beverly Hills,and his drug arrests. Said the singer: "I lost my partner to HIV then ittook about three years to grieve; then after that I lost my mother. I feltalmost like I was cursed. The only thing that got me through it was mymusic. It survived. I wrote very, very little, but the little I wrote didwell and kept my head above water...It was depression and shock which justwent on for years." He also says he's come to realize his arrest for publicsex was something he did deliberately. Link to video:
http://www.towleroad.com/2008/07/george-michael.html

-Seattle: Qwest Field Sorry About Scolding Lesbians
In the current issue of the Stranger, I write about two lesbians who heldhands at Qwest Field's WaMu Theater. To their horror, a security guardapproached them, shined a flashlight on their faces, and told them to "stopit," they say. What's worse: They were at the True Colors concert. You know,the show promoted with the rainbow fliers; the one that starred Rosie O'Donnell and Cyndi Lauper; the one that, as part of its mission statement, was heldto "raise awareness about the discrimination the GLBT community stillfaces." The PR firm handling the tour was mortified by the news. PatrickConfrey, of Rogers and Cowan, says, "We were freaked. We were like, "Are youkidding me?" The women met with representatives of Qwest Filed last weekto find out how to resolve the issue. Cai and Laura, who asked to beidentified only by their first names, say Qwest agreed to institute newdiversity trainings for their staff.
http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/qwest_sorry_about_scolding_lesbains


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

-Anti-Gay Lawmaker Caught With Gun At Capitol
A state lawmaker who gained national notoriety with an anti-homosexual rantwas stopped from entering the state Capitol Wednesday when she was found tohave a loaded handgun in her purse, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.Patrol spokeswoman Chris West said Republican Rep. Sally Kern was notcharged because there did not appear to be any "malicious intent" behind heractions.
http://www.365gay.com/news/anti-gay-lawmaker-caught-with-gun-at-capitol/


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

-Old Prejudices Revealed at House DADT Hearing
The first hearing in 15 years on the U.S. military's controversial "don'task, don't tell" policy prohibiting gay and lesbian soldiers from servingopenly was held in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.


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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 Con Artist in 9-11 Scam Rearrested in California
Statement from the Publisher, Norm Kent: As many of you know, I was the person responsible for exposing the original scam by Patric Ian Henn when,
as Publisher of The Express, I ran a story entitled 'Disaster and Deceit.' The story methodically detailed how Henn ran a scam which ripped the Red Cross off for over $68,000 in survivor benefits. Henn had falsely claimed to have lost his gay lover in the World Trade Center attacked, and had actually complained that the Red Cross was not funneling him money quickly enough.

-Support Increasing for UM Gay and Lesbian Community
The University of Mississippi has greatly changed its attitude towardsmembers of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) community overthe past ten years, Allies administrator and Gay-Straight Alliance advisorKevin Cozart said. "There is still a lot of work to do as far as the LGBTcommunity being included in things," Cozart said. "But it's better than itused to be." Cozart said the South's cultural heritage might havecontributed to this situation.

-Cox Enterprises Announces $50,000 in Foundation
Scholarships for Minority Journalism Students
Today at the 2008 UNITY journalism convention, Cox Enterprises, Inc.announced the James M. Cox Foundation is awarding $50,000 in scholarships tosupport minority journalism students. The scholarships will be managed byfive minority journalism organizations: the Asian American JournalistsAssociation (AAJA), the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ),the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the Native AmericanJournalists Association (NAJA) and the National Lesbian & Gay JournalistsAssociation (NLGJA).

-Australia: Solving the Puzzle
Like so many gay teenagers, Sebastian remembers hating his time as a studenton Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula. "For years, I was persecuted andabused, verbally and physically," he recalls. "The teachers knowinglyignored and turned a blind eye to the bullying, and I got blamed for drawingattention to myself. It got to the point where I dropped out of school forsix months." Mark went to an all boys' private school, and didn't come outuntil he was 21.


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

-CA: Map--"Spike in marriage licenses statewide"
Link: Los Angeles Times
Licenses issued by counties the first week of legal same-sexmarriage--compared to average rates. Statewide, more than 8,500 marriagelicenses were issued, more than two and a half times an average June week.

-"Some Mass. Lawmakers Scared of Vote to Repeal Anti-Misegenation LawRepeal"
Link: Edge Boston
In the wake of Mass. state senators voting to consider the repeal of aracist law from 1913, some House Democrats are expressing dismay at thetiming of the move because anti-gay activists are painting the repeal as anattempt to export marriage equality to other states. The Boston Heraldquoted unnamed Democratic lawmakers in July 22 article, with one Democratsaying Sal DiMasi, the House Speaker, was forcing a vote on the issuewithout regard to the political fallout for politicians facing re-electionbattles in the fall.

-"Janet Folger's Prison Fantasies"
Link: Box Turtle Bulletin
Her fantasy looks something like this: I can argue why marriage matters forthe continuation of civilization. I can tell you about every study thatshows without a doubt that children do best with both a mother and a father.But let me cut to the chase: If we don't win the marriage battle, now on theballot in California, Florida and Arizona, people who disagree withhomosexual behavior will . go to jail.

-"California Changes Prop 8 Ballot Language"
Link: Box Turtle Bulletin
Excerpt: The original title was "Limit on Marriage. Constitutional
Amendment". Now it's been changed for the better (PDF: 2 pages):
ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
Changes California Constitution to eliminate right of same-sex couples tomarry. Provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid orrecognized in California. Fiscal Impact: Over the next few years, potentialrevenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millionsof dollars, to state and local governments. In the long run, likely littlefiscal impact to state and local governments.


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

-UK: Tory councillor charged with having gay sex in a public toilet
A Conservative councillor in Harrow has appeared in court charged withengaging in sexual activity in a public lavatory. Robert Benson did notenter a plea at Harrow Magistrates' Court last week.

-German court rules forced divorces for trans people unconstitutional
A ruling by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court has been hailed as amajor victory for the trans community.

-Gaydar expands its radio reach to Australia
The UK's most popular gay radio station is to launch in Australia later thisyear. GaydarRadio has won armfuls of awards and is broadcast in the UK onSky and globally online.

-Vanity Fair parodies Obama 'terrorist' magazine cover
Vanity Fair has stepped into the fray over a controversial New YorkerMagazine cover featuring a cartoon Barack Obama as a terrorist by issuingtheir own faked John McCain parody cover this week.

-Gay advocacy groups get consultative status at United Nations
Two sexual orientation and gender identity rights groups have been givenconsultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council(ECOSOC).


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

-Black and Single: Is Marriage Really for White People?
Posted by Daily Queer News
A career she enjoyed, a nice home, two adorable children and a husband. Sheshared her tools for success with me at an early age. She went to college,got married and waited until she was 26 to have her first child.The perfectlife. The perfect plan. It was one I decided to model.My aspirations forboth a career and family were set at the age of 12. I knew I couldaccomplish what Mrs. Allen, my fifth- and seventh-grade teacher, had. But asI approach 30 and measure the goals I had at 12 against the reality of life,the only thing I can check off that list is a college education. I am astatistic.

-Activists in Maryland Await Judge's Ruling on Montgomery Co.'s TransgenderAnti-Discrimination Law
Posted by Daily Queer News
Equal-rights advocates in Maryland are hoping for the best while preparingfor the worst, regarding Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert A.Greenberg's upcoming ruling on the validity of 25,001 signatures collectedby a group of citizens hoping to place the fate of a transgenderanti-discrimination law in the hands of voters in November. "We're notassuming we're going to win in court. We certainly hope we do, but we can'trely on that," says Carrie Evans, who works as policy director for EqualityMaryland. "So we are absolutely preparing for defending this at the ballotbox in November and helping out Basic Rights Montgomery so voters inMontgomery County can understand why repealing this law is not a good thing."

-How One Vet's Persistence Paid Off
Posted by Daily Queer News
It was an average-looking letter that landed in Paul Weaver's mailbox. Butbearing news that his veteran's disability benefits had been stopped, itfelt more like a ton of crashing bricks. He felt shock, then resignation.He thought "I can't do this anymore. I have to move on." Mr. Weaver hadsought treatment at US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities a fewyears earlier for what had been diagnosed as a serious illness as well asfor post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his Marine Corps deploymentto Iraq in 2003, where he was a machine-gunner with the original invasionforce. Now it was July 2007, and he wanted to leave the battle behind him -even if it meant giving up thousands of dollars a month in disabilitybenefits. But his father, a retired senior chief petty officer with theNavy, wouldn't hear of it.

-Antiretroviral Drugs Extending Life, Not Improving It
Posted by Daily Queer News
Nairobi - HIV-positive people are living longer on antiretroviral (ARV)medication, but many of them remain poor and hungry, highlighting the needto create incomes for them, says a new report. "The long-termsustainability of people on ART [antiretroviral therapy] and the [treatment]programmes are threatened by the continuing lack of food and economicindependence," said a press release on the report, produced for CAFOD, adevelopment NGO based in the United Kingdom. The report noted that ART hadhad a significant impact on patients, whose expectations had changed from"preparing for death" to looking to the future for ways to sustainthemselves and their families. However, many people had started taking ARVsafter periods of illness during which they had lost their jobs and soldtheir assets to survive, so returning to a more normal life has proveddifficult. "ART programmes need to take into account the fact that peopleon treatment still need to eat and still need an income," Jo Maher, authorof the CAFOD report, told IRIN/PlusNews.


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Forwarded from Gay Asylum - UK
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gayasylum/messages?o=1
Go to this link for the following articles:

-The Syrian government should order an independent investigation into thedeadly shooting of inmates by military police at Sednaya prison two weeksago and make the findings public, Human Rights Watch said today. HumanRights Watch also called on the authorities to immediately make public thenames of those killed or injured in the incident. On the morning of July 5,prison authorities attempted to quell a riot in Sednaya prison, about 30kilometers north of Damascus. The riot had begun when a contingent ofMilitary Police officers conducted an aggressive search at the prison.According to an inmate who spoke to Human Rights Watch from a cell phoneinside the prison, the officers insulted inmates and stepped on copies ofthe Qur'an they had thrown on the floor.


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

-Gay Movements Abroad
As best I can from this distance, I try to follow the progress of gay rightsmovements abroad. And I feel great admiration and sympathy for the bravemenand women who are trying to promote gay legal and social equality inmanycountries of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. But most ofthem face a much harder time than we did in North America and WesternEurope. They face very different social situations from the ones we didso Iam not sure if the activist model they have adopted in part from us can workas well for them as it did for us.


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Forwarded from Euro-Queer
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article:

-United Nations: Defeat for Discrimination, Victory for InclusionLesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Groups Gain Consultative StatusThe decision by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)granting consultative status to two groups that work on sexual orientationand gender identity is a victory in the ongoing struggle for inclusion atthe UN, a coalition of six human rights organizations said today. The twogroups approved on July 21 and 22, 2008 are COC Netherlands and the StateFederation of Lesbians, Gays, Transexuals and Bisexuals of Spain (FELGTB),national organizations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender(LGBT) people in the Netherlands and Spain. "COC Netherlands is delightedabout obtaining consultative status with the UN," said Björn van Roozendaal,COC international advocacy officer. "It means we can join the efforts at theUN to address human rights violations against people with an alternativesexual orientation or gender identity." "Spanish-speaking LGBT voices willbe heard in UN meetings where human rights questions are debated," saidDavid Montero, FELGTB Spain's officer for international issues and humanrights. "We thank all who have contributed to this exciting outcome, andespecially Spain's UN mission for their support." Consultative status is akey means for civil society to access the UN system. It allowsnon-governmental organizations (NGOs) to deliver oral and written reports atUN meetings, and to organize events on UN premises. With it, these groupscan share their information and analysis of the abuses and discriminationLGBT people confront around the world.

-Today, in spite of the fact, that moscow authorities banned the picket nearthe embassy of Iran, organized in memory of gay-teenagers, executed in 2005,several activists of LGBT Rights, honored the memory of Mahmud Asgari (1989-19.07.2005) and Aiaz Marhoni (1987-19.07.2005) and other thousands ofpeople, exterminated by authorities during the years of victimizing of gaypeople in Iran. We would like to remind that this picket near the embassyof Iran was not coordinated with authorities because of the homophobia ofour Moscow government. In our country it is dangerous for morality of thesociety to honor the memory of people and to be outraged with brutal murderof gay people in Iran. We also break the 11th Article of the Convention!
http://lgbtrights.ru/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=1

-Finland: Lutheran Pastor Blesses Union of Lesbian Couple
A Lutheran pastor in Espoo has flouted church rules to bless the partnershipof a lesbian couple. The dean of the archdiocese of Espoo, Liisa Tuovinen,bestowed her blessing on the registered partners at a church summer campfacility on July 12. The bishop of Espoo, Mikko Heikka, said the churchwould not take any steps in response to the act unless a formal complaint isfiled. Two years ago a Lutheran pastor Leena Huovinen blessed a gay coupleat a Helsinki restaurant. A complaint was filed, but no action was takenagainst her. Pastor Tuovinen says that other such ceremonies have been heldat private homes. Finland's Lutheran bishops are to reconsider the issue ofblessing same-sex unions next year. Nearly nine out of 10 Finns are membersof the state-supported Evangelical Lutheran Church. Same-sex couples havebeen allowed to register theirrelationships with a magistrate since 2002.
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id96984.html


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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

-The Child Online Protection Act suffers from a slew of fatal flaws thatrender the law unconstitutional under the First Amendment, the 3rd U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. "We are quite certain thatnotwithstanding Congress's laudable purpose in enacting COPA, the governmenthas not met its burden of showing that it is narrowly tailored so as tosurvive a strict scrutiny analysis and thereby permit us to hold it to beconstitutional," Senior 3rd Circuit Judge Morton Greenberg wrote in ACLU v.Mukasey.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423185753&rss=newswire

-Campus Pride Honors Transgender Advocate Donna Rose with National Voice &Action Award
Second Annual Summer Leadership Camp Comes to Close
(Charlotte, NC) - National transgender advocate and educator Donna Rose willbe honored by Campus Pride with its first-ever Voice & Action Award. Ms.Rose will receive the honor as well as be a featured guest speaker at theClosing Dinner & Graduation Ceremony for the Campus Pride Summer LeadershipCamp this evening Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The camp is hosted on the campusof Towson University. "As a trans-identified young adult male, nationalleaders like Donna Rose remind me that we all have something to fight for.Her voice has been a catalyst for action and change for LGBT people for manyyears to come," Courtney D'Allaird, camp participant and Pride Leader fromthe State University of New York - Albany said.
www.campuspride.org


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From Transgender Equality
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-Allyson Robinson Named Human Rights Campaign Foundation Associate Director of Diversity
Longtime activist, ordained minister Robinson to lead organization's work on transgender issues
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation's largest gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgender civil rights group, today announced that AllysonRobinson has been named Associate Director of Diversity of the organization.Robinson, a longtime activist and ordained minister, will lead HRC and itsvolunteer base in promoting awareness of transgender issues and ensuringthat all program areas demonstrate measurable commitment to transgenderequality and inclusion.

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