GLBT DIGEST - August 27, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
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-Arkansas: Vote on Gay Adoptions
A proposal intended to ban gay men and lesbians from becoming foster oradoptive parents was cleared for this fall's ballot. The measure wouldprohibit unmarried couples living together from fostering or adoptingchildren, and the state does not allow same-sex marriage or recognizesame-sex marriages conducted elsewhere. Secretary of State Charlie Danielscertified the proposal for the ballot after verifying that the ArkansasFamily Council Action Committee had submitted 85,389 valid signatures ofregistered voters. Jerry Cox, president of the committee, said: "Arkansasneeds to affirm the importance of married mothers and fathers. We need topublicly affirm the gold standard of rearing children whenever we can."Arkansas Families First is campaigning against the measure and has said itplans to sue to keep it off the ballot.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/us/26brfs-VOTEONGAYADO_BRF.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse&oref=slogin


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-Given a greater voice at convention, people of faith challenge Democrats oncore issues
Religious leaders and people of faith who've been invited to the table atthis week's Democratic National Convention are not sitting quietly withtheir hands in their laps. The head of a large African-Americandenomination challenged the party on abortion. An Orthodox Jewish rabbiraised his voice about school choice. A thirty-something evangelicalChristian author warned against Democrats who mock believers.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-cvn-democrats-faith,0,2429858.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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-GOP takes a hard line on abortion for its platform
Republicans went on record Tuesday with a reaffirmation of their hard lineon abortion and edged toward a more moderate stance toward climate change,reflecting the views of both John McCain and the conservative base. In itsplatform debate, the party stuck to its call for a constitutional amendmentbanning abortion despite McCain's opposition, and toughened alreadyuncompromising language on the issue.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/659611.html

-Let victims stay
Re the Aug. 15 letter Immigration debate, by Yeh Ling-Ling, about theJamaican lesbian spared deportation: As executive director of DiversityAlliance for Sustainable America, she should not talk dismissively aboutvictims and the abuse they suffer at the hands of their governments.Such problems are real in Jamaica. Amnesty International and a few otherorganizations are about the only ones addressing the problem of homophobiathere. Even when gay Jamaicans come to the United States to live free fromoppression, they still fear being ''outed'' when they return home to visit.Ling-Ling seems to believe that since she is in America she can now closethe door on others seeking freedom and democracy.
MARVA LIGHTBOURNE, Miami
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters/story/660135.html


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Steve Rothaus
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-LaFontaine loses race to become Florida's first openly gay state legislatorDespite raising significantly less than her two opponents, former DeerfieldBeach Commissioner Gwyn Clarke-Reed won a seat in the state House ofRepresentatives. The men who were also vying for House District 92, WiltonManors Mayor Scott Newton and Oakland Park accountant and activist MarkLaFontaine (pictured), traded jabs as the campaign wrapped up.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-Zimbabwe opposition: Mugabe will fail alone
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082700862.html?hpid=sec-world

-Adoption, marriage amendments rile gay delegates
Anti-gay measure newly certified for Arkansas
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20680

-Dem convention features 2 out gay speakers
Baldwin talks health care; Tobias attacks Bush over economy
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20677

-Interview with Rick Stafford
DNC's LGBT caucus chair talks about gay clout within party
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20676

-Interview with Barney Frank
He spoke with Mark Segal about the convention, how the Democratic Party haschanged and what the LGBT community should expect from a new president.
http://pgnblogs.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/interview-with-barney-frank/


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

-Queercents: Ten money questions for Andrew Tobias
Answers to money questions from Democratic National Committee TreasurerAndrew Tobias.
http://www.365gay.com/features/queercents-andrew-tobias/

-Religious conservatives want dem. concessions for their vote
http://www.365gay.com/news/082708-religious-conservatives/

-Gay Paris mayor to seek French presidency
http://www.365gay.com/news/082608-paris-mayor/

-Olympics: NBC on not mentioning Mitcham is gay: "We can't cover
everything"
http://www.365gay.com/features/nbc-on-not-mentioning-mitcham-is-gay/

-Coroner: Gay man shot by police at San Diego pride "a homicide"
The death of a 37-year old gay man who was shot last month by San DiegoHarbor Police during a gay pride-related cruise was been ruled a homicideaccording to the county coroner's final report.
http://www.365gay.com/news/082608-pride-homocide/


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
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-Hillary Shines on Day Two
Hillary Clinton had two objectives with her address to the DemocraticNational Convention Tuesday night: prove she's committed to electing BarackObama president, and persuade her primary voters to embrace the Democraticnominee too. She certainly accomplished the former.
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid60075.asp

-Mass. Voters May Decide Out-of-State Marriage Ban
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid60064.asp

-"Lesbian" Shirt Gets Woman Booted From Federal Building
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid60063.asp

-Study: Legal Status Helps Relationships Last Longer
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid60061.asp

-An Inclusive First Day at the Democratic Convention
From Sen. Ted Kennedy's reference to erasing barriers between gays andstraights to Michelle Obama's gripping primetime address to the largest-everLGBT caucus meeting, The Advocate brings you Day One at the DNC.
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid60027.asp


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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
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-Gay Beauty Contest Website Targeted by Vandals
Organisers of the Mr Gay Europe event have said they are the victims of ahomophobic online attack that has disabled their website. The hackers left"a message of hatred" and promised they would "never give up fightingagainst the site." "This is just horrible," Morten Ruda, President of theMr Gay Europe organisation, told PinkNews.co.uk. "At the moment we do ourvery best to recover all the articles and the photos on the site.

-Openly Gay DNC Treasurer Addresses Convention
Andy Tobias, the openly gay treasurer of the Democratic National Committeespoke to thousands assembled in Denver's Pepsi Center at the DemocraticNational Convention. Focusing his speech on the economy, Tobias explainedhow historically Democrats have brought a better economy than Republicans.The line that garnered the most cheers, however, had nothing to do withbudgets and deficits, but with Tobias's call for civil rights and equaltreatment for all. "As a gay man, I yearn for a president who believes inequal rights for all Americans," he said.

-New Lesbian Detective Show Being Considered By Networks
When the L-Word debuted in 2004, networks were astounded that the newtelevision series did so well at capturing a diverse television audience inaddition to its anticipated gay following. Since the L-Word's successtelevision networks have attempted to replicate the Lesbian story line intovarious television shows.

-Mass A.G. OKs Anti-Gay Ballot Measure
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on Monday approved the wordingof a ballot measure that would reinstate a law used to bar out-of-statesame-sex couples from marrying in the Bay State. Coakley saidMassResistence had met the requirements to begin collecting the 33,000 validsignatures needed to put the issue to voters in 2010. Coakley went out ofher way to say she does not necessarily support the reinstatement measure.

-NBC Censors Sexual Orientation Of Openly Gay Gold Medalist Diver
According to OutSports.com, of the 10,708 athletes at the Olympics thisyear, just 10 have identified themselves publicly as being gay. Of the 10,Australian diver Matthew Mitcham is the only male gay athlete. Yesterday,Mitcham won the gold in the in the 10m platform diving event, scoring anupset over the Chinese team, which was heavily favored to win. But as MaggieHendricks at Yahoo's Olympics blog notes, NBC never mentioned Mitcham'sorientation:

-Remembering the Legacy of Matthew Shepard
Ten years ago this year, the nation was ravaged by a series of bias and hatecrimes, including the tragic murder of a University of Wyoming student namedMatthew Shepard. Today his legacy and story lives on. Stop The Hate(www.stophate.org), an educational initiative of Campus Pride, dedicates2008-09 to the memory of all victims of hate and has partnered with theMatthew Shepard Foundation to host two national trainings this Fall andSpring to prevent bias and hate crimes on college campuses. More informationonline at www.stophate.org under Events.

-So, Science Proves You CAN Tell A Gay Just By Looking!
A psychologist has spent ages doing a study that proves that you can tell agay from a non-gay, just by looking. Sort of. Well, some of the time. A bit.Nicholas Rule's study, published in last month's Journal of ExperimentalSocial Psychology, involved the researcher getting 15 undergrads, showingthem pictures of men, and asking them they thought said men were gays.

-Obama Loses Gay Media King
PAUL Colichman, the William Randolph Hearst of the gay media, is notsupporting Barack Obama for president. But that doesn't mean he's backingJohn McCain. "I'm a die-hard Democrat," he tells Page Six. But Colichmanwas also a die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter. He and Harry Thomasonproduced a documentary, "The Hunting of the President: The 10-Year Campaignto Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton."


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

-MA: Anti-gay marriage group stays out of latest petition drive
The group that has led opposition to gay marriage says it will notparticipate in a petition drive to block out-of-state, same-sex couples frombeing married in assachusetts. The Massachusetts Family Institute said"there is no winning on this ssue" because thousands of marriages will havetaken place before the proposed allot question could go to voters inNovember 2010.

-AZ: Voters to be told gay vows already banned
Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
Arizona voters will be told when they go to the polls that it already isillegal for gays to marry in this state. Secretary of State Jan Breweragreed late Tuesday to dd that fact to the description of Proposition 102that will appear on the November allots. Approval would add a
same-sex-marriage ban to the state constitution.

-ID: "Hallmark stores refuse to sell company's own wedding cards"
A manager says seven Hallmark greeting card stores in the Treasure Valley[Idaho] will not carry the company's new same-sex marriage cards. CassiJacobsen, an assistant manager for the Jordan's Hallmark store in Nampa'sKarcher Mall, says the family that owns the seven area stores has decidedagainst carrying the new line of greeting cards. She said the owners wereout of town and not immediately available for comment.


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

-Gay online TV channel to launch in Romania
Romanian gays are to get their own online TV channel dedicated to the 'lifeand problems of the gay community' this autumn.

-The Gay Olympics: Matthew and the women
Matthew Mitcham has a somewhat dubious honour to accompany his richlydeserved gold medal in diving. He appears to be the only out gay man to havecompeted at the Beijing Olympics.

-"No credible threat" to Obama after assassination plot foiled
A possible assassination attempt on presumptive Democratic Presidentialnominee Barack Obama may have been foiled quite by accident.

-Ricky Martin "elated" after birth of twins via surrogate mother
Latin superstar Ricky Martin is the proud father of twin boys via asurrogate mother, his representatives have announced.

-Exhibition reveals official fears over gay characters in the theatre
A new exhibition will be pay tribute to the postwar period of transformationin theatre which saw writers 'coming to terms with life.'


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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

-Republican U.S. Senator Busted Using Hookers. Wants To Pay Legal Bills With Campaign Money.
Republican U.S. Senator Busted Using Hookers. Wants To Pay Legal Bills WithCampaign Money. Three Republicans On Federal Election Commission Don't See AProblem With This. As you may know, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana wasimplicated in the D.C. Madam case and has admitted that he committed a "veryserious sin." Not only is he still serving as a United States Senator fromLouisiana, but now he wants to use his campaign money to pay legal billsrelated to his being subpoenaed in the case. This guy just can't leave wellenough alone.
http://www.myreferenceframe.com/politics/us-senator-busted-using-hookers-wan


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