GLBT DIGEST - August 05, 2008

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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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-A red ribbon-- symbol of the fight against AIDS -- is tattooed on JoséRamirez's neck and posted prominently on the bulletin board in his office."It's me; it's who I am," says Ramirez, 26, coordinator of the YouthMpowerment programs at D.C.'s Clinica del Pueblo. "It opens upconversations." · Ramirez, who educates young gay and bisexual Latino menabout AIDS prevention, is working to slow the increase in cases.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080102445.html

-HIV Screening: It's Not So Easy
Researchers Find Oral Test Is Fast but Not Always Accurate
In the controlled chaos of emergency departments across the country, doctorsare working to curb the HIV epidemic, one swab of the gums at a time. Theeffort stems from guidelines published in 2006 by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention to extend HIV testing to teens and adults in anyhealth-care setting, regardless of their risk of having the virus. The D.C.Health Department launched its own campaign that year, distributing 80,000free tests in ERs, community health centers and private doctors' offices.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080102753.html?hpid=sec-health


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-Why to vote Republican
The writer of a July 29 letter asked for reasons to vote Republican. Here are mine. Welfare is not an investment in our "hard-working people;" it is an institution that kills motivation and the self-start mentality that built this great nation. If the answer to our energy challenge lies within a search for alternative fuel sources, then say goodbye to decent food prices, hello to even higher gas prices, and watch the majority of your paycheck evaporate. Accusing Republicans of stoking fear because they don't engage in diplomatic relations with dictators is contradictory. Talking to rogue nations is not brave. It's irresponsible and ineffective.
Killing unborn children should be criminal. To lower the number of abortions, we as parents must raise our children to understand that sex is meant for married couples. Assuming kids and teenagers are unable to control themselves underestimates their strength and defeats their character before they are old enough to recognize they have any. And gay marriage undercuts the purpose of marriage, to protect the family, by helping the mother and father to raise well-adjusted children who will become productive members of society. Gay couples cannot produce children. Why then, should they be allowed to get married?
Carolyn Frawley
Fort Lauderdale
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-brmail806pnaug05,0,5804174.story


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

-'So Gay' ad surprised SC tourism leaders:
Emails reveal unease shared among officials
When an ad campaign appeared in the London Underground promoting SouthCarolina as a "So Gay" destination for gay and lesbian tourists, thespokesman for the state's tourism agency shared his unease with a colleague.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20120

-Hey Nancy, we thought you were on our side!
Nancy Pelosi announced this week that she's pushing for Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas to be Obama's running mate. Pelosi, who could be called one of the gay community's biggest political allies, has a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign and has spoken at numerous events thrown by the organization. She has an entirely pro-gay rights voting record under her belt. The Dallas Voice points out today, however, that the man she wants Obama to pick for his VP is decidedly anti-gay. "Edwards scored a 15 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s most recent Congressional scorecard, putting him in a three-way tie for least gay-friendly among 11 Democratic House members from Texas. Among other things, Edwards, a Southern Baptist, supported the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006," the story said.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=8/4/08&end=8/6/08#20139


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

-Olsen seeks immunity in Ledger probe
Federal investigators want to question Mary-Kate Olsen about how HeathLedger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his accidentaloverdose death, but she’s refusing to talk without immunity, a lawenforcement official said Monday.
http://www.365gay.com/features/080508-olsen-immunity/

-Cadillac ad campaign drives to LGBT award
Cadillac’s “Road to Success” won the Commercial Closet Association’s awardfor Outstanding U.S. TV Campaign for the LGBT Market: Cadillac and its “Roadto Success” campaign, the organization announced.
http://www.365gay.com/features/080408-cadillac/

-Gays, Others Prepare For GOP Protests
A 73-year-old retired surgeon marching in silence with a tombstone picturinga soldier killed in Iraq. A philosophy professor calling for a newinvestigation into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A long-haul trucker fromTexas protesting the price of oil.
http://www.365gay.com/news/080408-rnc/


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
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-How Movable Is John McCain?
Gay Republicans are hoping the Arizona senator can be won over to our side.Don't count on it.
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid58856.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:

-AIDS Prevention Focus Returns to Gay Men at Mexico Conference
Discrimination against men who have sex with men must end, and countriesmust gear up prevention programs against AIDS in this high-risk group, thesecretary general of the United Nations said yesterday. Speaking at theopening ceremonies for the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, UNchief Ban Ki-moon was one of several world leaders and health officials whospoke about the need for targeting the epidemic among homosexual men.

-New Study Says Gay Couples Really Do Want Marriage
One of the most significant developments in the debate about same-sexmarriage is that it is gradually moving from abstract discussions aboutphilosophy and civil rights to concrete debates about evidence andexperience. As more countries and states recognize gay marriage, we learnmore and more about its effects and the characteristics of the familiesseeking it.

-Camp For Gay, Lesbian Youth Branching Out
An Edmonton summer camp for gay, lesbian and transgendered youth hasinspired a national movement to offer leadership training and a safe havenfor their counterparts across the country. Two new camps - one in Ottawaand one in British Columbia - are planned for the summer of 2009 followingthe success of Camp fYerfly, which hosted its largest camp to date July 24to 27.

-Gay Marriage: A Way Out
Want to break up this summer's family reunion a little early? Mention gaymarriage. Some of the cousins, citing the Hebrew scriptures, will call it anabomination. Others, citing the Biblical command to love our neighbors asourselves, will say it's the proper arrangement for couples of the samegender who love each other and had no choice over their sexual orientationin the first place. Whatever your take on the subject, gay marriage may bethe most divisive issue to face America's faith community since slavery. Thelatest opinion polls bear this out. A CBS poll in June showed 30% ofAmericans favor allowing same-sex marriage, 36% against and 28% favoringcivil unions for gay and lesbian couples.


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Pink News - UK
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
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-Bill Clinton: AIDS is "a very big dragon" but it can be slain
Former US President Bill Clinton said nations fighting AIDS need to reformtheir health care systems to reach high-risk groups neglected during thepast quarter of a century.

-South Carolina tourism director speaks up for gay tube adverts
Amid the row about adverts in London promoting South Carolina as a gaydestination, the head of the state's tourism agency said yesterday he wantedthe campaign to continue.

-Parenthood and belief in God prompt gay partners to make commitment
Gay and lesbian couples are more likely to legalise their relationship andhold a commitment ceremony if they have children and strong religiousbeliefs, says a new study.

-Facebook may help prove gay refugee's claims says Canadian group
Gay and lesbian refugee claimants struggling to shed old-world views oftheir sexuality are turning to new-age technology to make their case.

-EU condemns Iran for public execution of 29 people
The European Union has condemned in the "strongest terms" the execution of29 people at a notorious prison in Tehran last month.

-Bishop urges gay priests to "say it out loud"
The only openly gay bishop in the Anglican Church has said many of hisfellow clergy have "an unwillingness to be honest" about their sexualorientation.


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

-NY: Pride Agenda Rips Stonewall on Endorsements
Bronx Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr., is among several who voted against thesame-sex marriage equality bill but still won endorsement by the StonewallDemocrats of New York City. Bronx Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr., is amongseveral who voted against the same-sex marriage equality bill but still wonendorsement by the Stonewall Democrats of New York City.

-Defining Men and Women at the Olympics
By Alex Blaze | The Bilerico Project
The NY Times is reporting that the Olympics in Beijing this summer will betesting female athletes to see if they’re actually women or men posing aswomen: Organizers of the Beijing Olympics have set up a sex-determination laboratory to evaluate “suspect” female athletes, theofficial Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Sunday. The lab is similar toones set up at previous Olympics in Sydney and Athens, and will draw on theresources of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital to evaluate anathlete’s external appearance, hormones and genes. This practice, in thehistory of the Olympics, has excluded more women than the men-posing-as-women it’s caught (that number being a big ol’ goose egg).

-Bombay High Court Judge Supports Review of Section 377
In delivering a judgement which overturned the earlier of conviction of twoBritish men and a local associate for sexually abusing minors, Justice BilalNazki wrote in a judgement that the laws that criminalise “unnatural” sexincluding same-sex relations need to be reviewed. “There are lots ofchanges taking place in the social milieu and many people have differentsexual preferences, which are even not considered to be unnatural. Thereforeit is high time that the provisions of law which was made more than acentury ago, is looked at again.” Last week, Justice Nazki and JusticeSharad Bobde ordered the release of two former Royal British Navalofficers - Allan Waters (64) and Duncan Grant (60) - along with their Indianmanager William D’Souza, saying they were not guilty of sexually abusingminor boys at the Anchorage shelter home in Colaba.

-Malaysian Transvestites Appeal One-Week Jail Sentence
The four were among the 16 Muslim men arrested by the Kelantan IslamicReligious Affairs Department in a raid during a beauty pageant held at aresort in the northern state of Kelantan in Malaysia, according to mediareports. Mohamad Abdul Aziz Mohamad Noor, the religious department chief,was quoted as saying that the four transvestites were sentenced to sevendays jail and fined 1,000 ringgit (US$310) after being found guilty by theIslamic Syariah court for wearing female outfits. They are currently onbail. The official revealed that one transvestite was released because “hewore a Malay traditional outfit” while the other 11 who were wearing eveninggowns will be charged on Aug 24. The 11 are currently on bail. The NewStraits Times newspaper reported that most of contestants were teachers andbank employees. It was reported that another group of 50 transvestites whowere preparing to join the “Miss Universe Asia 2008″ contest managed toescape arrest - several of whom dived into a nearby river. About 300 peoplewere at the hotel to watch the event.

-WA: Dad, Dad and Me:
Seattle is a Haven for Children of Gays and Lesbians
By Jordie Ricigliano | Seattle Times
Annie Van Avery was 6 years old when her parents sat their two daughtersdown in their Minneapolis home to break the news. Mommy and Daddy wouldn’tbe together anymore because Daddy wanted to find his knight in shiningarmor. Daddy and his knight. It wasn’t something from Cinderella, SleepingBeauty or even out of Disney, but as long as Annie still had parents thatsupported and adored her, Annie knew she would be fine. “You know as kids,we just got it,” Annie said. “It was kind of romantic. Daddy was going tolook for his prince.”

-Mary Cheney Donates $3000 to Fight Proposition 8!
California Ripple Effect
That’s right, you heard it here first. Vice-President Dick Cheney’s outdaughter, Mary Cheney gave 3K to NO on 8 – Equality California in July.Cheney and her long-term partner, Heather Poe, have a one-year old daughter,and this gift will go toward a secure future for all families. She joinsother prominent donors, such as LA Police Chief William Bratton, actorIsaiah Washington, and tennis star Martina Navratilova in stepping up to thechallenge and saying everyone deserves the freedom to marry.

-Way Ahead Found in Church Gay Row
BBC
The announcement came on the last day of the Lambeth Conference, which hasbeen overshadowed by the issue of gay clergy and same-sex unions. About 200bishops boycotted the once-a-decade forum over the row. Dr Rowan Williamssaid there was a recognition, “though still with many questions”, that aCovenant was needed. The BBC’s Robert Pigott says this would be “some sortof statement of shared beliefs and a more-or-less binding agreement to stickto them”. Our correspondent said there were signs of support for along-term strategy to prevent further disintegration, but that the issue hadbrought the Church to the “brink of a permanent split”.

-UN Grants Status to Homosexual-Rights Groups
By Matt Sanchez | World Net Daily
The U.N. recently accorded two homosexual-rights groups “consultativestatus,” raising opposition from pro-family advocates who see the move as aweakening of national sovereignty that could result in lowering the age ofconsent for homosexual sex. U.N. watchdogs also cite homosexual-rightsgroups’ historical alignment with organizations advocating pedophilia. TheU.N.’s Economic and Social Council, the organ facilitating internationalcooperation on standards-making and problem-solving in economic and socialissues, has accepted COC Netherlands and the State Federation of Lesbians,Gays, Transexuals and Bisexuals of Spain. This “means we can join theefforts at the U.N. to address human rights violations against people withan alternative sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Björn vanRoozendaal, COC Netherlands international advocacy officer.


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

-Tasmania: GROUNDBREAKING GAY BLOOD BAN CASE STARTS THURSDAY
The first full hearing in a groundbreaking gay blood ban case begins inHobart this Thursday before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. Thecase was lodged in 2005 by Launceston gay man, Michael Cain, after he wasrefused the opportunity to give blood at the Launceston blood collectioncentre because he indicated he was in a sexual relationship with anotherman. Mr Cain said "my case is simply that potential donors should bescreened for the safety of their sexual activity rather than the gender oftheir sexual partner." "I am looking forward to this important issuefinally having its day in court" Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Groupspokesperson, Rodney Croome, also welcomed the Tribunal hearing.
www.gayblooddonation.org

-Prague: The number of same-sex couples who conclude registered partnershipin the Czech Republic has declined since the boom in 2006 when therespective law took effect, the daily Pravo wrote Friday, referring to itspoll at birth registry offices. The law on registered partnership of gayand lesbian couples has been valid since July 1, 2006. In the same year 235couples entered into registered partnership in the 10-million CzechRepublic. During the first half of this year, it was only 105 couples,according to data from 14 birth registries, Pravo writes. "In 2006 weregistered 26 couples, during the whole 2007 it was also 26, and this yearwe have so far registered 10 couples," a clerk, from the birth registry inKladno, central Bohemia, told Pravo.
http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/392/czech_national_news/26311/

-Cultures clash in church row over gay rights
RITE&REASON: The controversy within the Anglican communion over same-sexissues, considered again at the recently concluded Lambeth Conference, andconcern about human rights in China in the context of the Olympic Games,throw up an awkward question. To what extent is the promotion of humanrights a western colonial exercise? To what extent are so-called"self-evident truths" arising from the Judeo-Christian tradition - stilldominant as a pattern of thinking in the West if not any more wherereligious practice is concerned - simply by-products of a particularlysuccessful culture rather than being "truths" that genuinely have theuniversal application claimed?


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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

-US Govt: No need for Gay HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
The CDC stated over the weekend that new HIV stats for the USA show gaymalecomprise the largest affected community, with 53% of the infections,yetthere is no gay HIV awareness day:
http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2008/08/us-govt-no-need-for-gay-hivaids.html

-Let's Call 'Sex Tourism' What It Really Is: Slavery
I began to learn about the truly evil world of sexual slavery in 1999, whenthe human rights organization Equality Now contacted me about Big AppleOriental Tours, a travel company based in my district. The namesoundsinnocuous enough, but this was not your typical tour company. Itsclients didn't turn to it for its expertise on restaurants or culturallandmarks. Big Apple's clients were interested in just one attraction:
women. And theyall could have gone by the same euphemistic name: John. BigApple was a "sex tourism" business. It arranged tours of seedy nightclubs inThailand and the Philippines. These nightclubs were thinly veiled brothels,of course. Big Apple even advertised access to virgins. An Associated Pressreporter who viewed one of Big Apple's "promotional videos" reported that itcontained a clip of a Filipina woman identifying herself as "17 yearsyoung."
http://www.alternet.org/story/86757/

-The XY Games
IN the 1936 Olympic Games, the sprinter Stella Walsh - running for Polandand known as the fastest woman in the world - was beaten by Helen Stephensof St. Louis, who set a world record by running 100 meters in 11.4 seconds.After the race, a Polish journalist protested that Stephens must be a man.After all, no woman in the world could run that fast. Olympic officialsperformed a "sex test" on Stephens, who was found, in fact, to be female,proving once and for all that a person could be incredibly fast and femaleat the same time. Forty-four years later, Walsh, who had become an Americancitizen, was shot to death in the parking lot of a discount store inCleveland. Her autopsy revealed a surprise: It was Stella Walsh, and notHelen Stephens, who turned out to have been male all along, at leastaccording to the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03boylan.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

-Right Gears Up to Fight "Armageddon of the Culture War"
For two hours earlier this week, pastors gathered at more than 200sitesthroughout California, Arizona, and Florida to be exhorted bynationalReligious Right leaders like Tony Perkins, Harry Jackson, MaggieGallagher,and Chuck Colson and others to hold nothing back in their effortsto fightagainst marriage equality. The People For the American WayFoundation todayreleased a memo [PDF] chronicling the call and outlining theRight's plans for the weeksahead: The primary focus of the call wasProposition 8 in California, described by Colson as "the Armageddon of theculture war." Many speakers invoked thelanguage of warfare, raising up anarmy of believers, putting soldiers in the streets, being on the front linesof a battle.
http://media.pfaw.org/PDF/Memo_AntiMarriageCall.pdf?tr=y&auid=3871832

-Researchers Look to Daily Pill to Avert H.I.V.
MEXICO CITY - Can a pill a day help prevent infection from H.I.V., the virusthat causes AIDS? No one knows. But researchers in a number of countriesare conducting trials and planning others to test the unproven strategy thata daily pill, or a combination of drugs, can prevent H.I.V. By mid-2009,more people will be enrolled in such trials than in all ofthose for H.I.V.vaccines and microbicides, the AIDS Vaccine AdvocacyCoalition said in areport issued here on Sunday at the start of the 17th International AIDSConference. Initial findings of the safety and effectiveness might comeearly next year,although researchers do not know how they will compare tothe disappointingresults of recent tests of H.I.V. vaccines andmicrobicides, chemicals that women can put in their vagina to prevent H.I.V.infection.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/health/04aids.html


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GAY, HIV-POSITIVE MAN FROM PAKISTAN SEEKS REFUGE IN THE UNITED STATES LGBT,
HIV/AIDS, and Immigrant-Rights Organizations Submit Brief in Support of HisAsylum Claim
Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Heartland Alliance’sNational Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) filed an amicus brief with theBoard of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia on behalf of a numberof other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), HIV/AIDS, andimmigrant-rights organizations in support of a gay Pakistani man with HIVwho is seeking asylum in the United States. S.K. is a gay Pakistani man seeking asylum and withholding of removalbecause he fears persecution based on his sexual orientation and HIV status.Under Pakistani law, being gay is punishable by death and LGBT people areforced to live in secrecy and constant fear of exposure. The ImmigrationJudge ignored the serious risk of persecution that S.K. faces and denied hisapplication for asylum. The judge held that S.K., who has HIV, and was in acommitted relationship with a man in Minnesota, could avoid persecution byhiding his sexual orientation, marrying a woman, and having children. TheBoard of Immigration Appeals originally upheld the Immigration Judge’sdecision and is now reviewing the case a second time. “No one should have tolive in fear that just by being themselves they could be punished withprison or death by their own government,” said Shannon Price Minter, LegalDirector of NCLR. According to the amicus brief filed today, the ImmigrationJudge also failed to recognize that S.K.’s traumatizing diagnosis of HIVthat had progressed to AIDS understandably delayed his filing. “In additionto the many difficulties he was already facing, S.K. was diagnosed with HIVand AIDS, and the understandable psychological and physical difficulties heexperienced immediately following that diagnosis delayed his filing forasylum,” explains Claudia Valenzuela, supervising attorney for the NationalImmigrant Justice Center’s Detention Project, a program of Chicago-basedHeartland Alliance. “Our country’s asylum laws were written to take intoaccount situations like S.K.’s, in which individuals’ circumstances maychange long after they arrive in the United States and make them subject torenewed danger in their home country.”
www.nclrights.org


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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/

-Court Strikes Down ‘Overbroad’ Harassment Policy
A federal appeals court on Monday declared Temple University’s now-abandonedsexual harassment policy unconstitutional — and it did so in a way thatlegal experts agree could make it much more difficult for colleges anduniversities to defend nondiscrimination policies that limit the speech ofstudents. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Courtof Appeals for the Third Circuit came in a 2006 lawsuit brought by a formergraduate student in history at Temple University. Christian DeJohn, who wasalso a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, sued the university,its former president, David Adamany, and two professors, alleging that thesexual harassment policy in place when DeJohn was enrolled from 2002-6impaired his ability to express his opinions about the role of women in themilitary.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/05/temple

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