GLBT DIGEST - August 29, 2008

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

-On Screen
Opening Sept. 5: Nicolas Cage plays a hit man in "Bangkok Dangerous.". . .
Gay Muslim filmmaker Parvez Sharma explores the complex global intersectionsbetween Islam and homosexuality in the documentary "A Jihad for Love.". . .Anne Hathaway plays a grief counselor who finds herself at the root of amystery when her clients begin to disappear in "Passengers." Opening datesmay change.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082801005.html

-California prisons prepare for gay weddings
Now that same-sex couples can get married in California, state prisonofficials are trying to figure out what that means for gay inmates. Noprisoners so far have sought to arrange weddings with same-sex partnerssince the state Supreme Court granted same-sex couples the right to wed asof mid-June, according to Michele Kane, spokeswoman for the CaliforniaDepartment of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/29/AR2008082900498.html


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South Florida Blade
http://www.southfloridablade.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Gay candidates strike out at polls
Backers blame divided GLBT votes, leaders for dismal outcome
Three openly gay candidates in Broward County were soundly defeated inprimary elections Tuesday night. Mark LaFontaine, Adriane Reesey and BryanCaletka each lost their bids for statewide and county public offices.
http://www.floridablade.com/2008/8-28/news/localnews/5003.cfm

-Miami-Dade gay delegate represents
Chip Arndt dispatches from the front lines of DNC
"You could call us all political junkies and this is our Olympics."
http://www.floridablade.com/2008/8-28/news/localnews/5005.cfm


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

-Portia de Rossi, Sarah Paulson Join ABC Lineup
Newlywed Portia de Rossi, 35, will be returning to prime time televisionearly next year in Better Off Ted, one of five pilots picked up by ABC forits midseason lineup.
http://www.365gay.com/features/portia-de-rossi-sarah-paulson-join-abc-lineup/

-Corvino: Why moral approval matters
"The problem with you people," my critic scolded, "is that you're no longerhappy with merely being left alone. You don't just want us to toleratehomosexuality. You want us to think it's RIGHT."
http://www.365gay.com/features/082908-corvino/

-Toronto suburb launches LGBT homophobia hotline
(Toronto, Ontario) Police in Peel Region, a sprawling suburb of more than 2million people west of Toronto, have set up a special LGBT Hate CrimeHotline, believed to be the first of its kind in North America.
http://www.365gay.com/news/082808-homophobia-hotline/

-College wrestler in gay porn flap transfers
One of two University of Nebraska wrestlers dismissed from the team afterposing naked for videos and photographs on an Internet gay pornography sitehas left the school.
http://www.365gay.com/news/082808-college-wrestler/


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

-GOP's Platform Snubs Gay Rights
While the Republican Party's 2008 platform has diminished in size comparedto its 2004 plan, the party has made sure to include measures to prevent gayand lesbian couples from gaining marriage equality. The 2004 document wasmore than double the size of this year's, which is about 20,000 words, andmentions presidential nominee Sen. John McCain only in the preamble,according to National Public Radio. A stark comparison to the last platform,which mentioned incumbent president candidate George Bush on nearly everypage. The 120 platform delegates went after same-sex marriage, themilitary's ban on openly gay service members, and judges that rule in favorof LGBT rights.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid60181.asp

-Obama Makes Gay History
Sen. Barack Obama accepted his Party's history making nomination forpresident Thursday night with a speech that was also momentous for itsinclusion of gays and lesbians.
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid60227.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 Rights Groups Counting on Democrats to Deliver
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, is in high spirits - and with good cause. His colleagues are represented like never before in theDemocratic delegate pool, and gay rights groups have partied hard duringthis week's convention. More important, Solmonese is confident that aftereight years of a Bush administration that opposed his agenda, the gay rightscommunity's alignment with the Democratic Party and Barack Obama will leadto policy victories in Washington.

-Competition Begins at NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series
The competition got underway in Seattle yesterday as teams from across thecountry converged on the city for the 2008 NAGAAA (North American GayAmateur Athletic Association) Softball World Series. It was a beautiful dayfor softball and GaySports.com was on the ground checking in with theplayers and checking up on the action. With registration and check in outof the way, the pool play games got underway Tuesday. While the losses inthe pool play don't count toward elimination, they do help the tournamentorganizers set the brackets for the elimination games, which begin onThursday.

-Gus Threatens New Orleans Gay Party
For the second time in three years a massive storm is threatening to scuttleSouthern Decadence. Right now, the massive gay party that attracts tens ofthousands of gays to the French Quarter is still on. But organizers aremonitoring the weather and the city is bracing for a possible evacuation asGustav gathers strength and could slam into the Gulf Coast as a major hurricane.

-Beijing's Homosexuals Live in the Shadows
The Beijing Olympics have not changed anything for Benjamin Han. He is stillgay, still single and still compelled to hide his orientation from publicview. The 28-year-old employee of a large international public relationsfirm is one of an estimated 5 million to 10 million gay men in China wholive, for the most part, in the shadows. Homosexuality has only been legalfor 11 years in China. Although the Chinese Psychiatric Association took itoff the list of psychiatric disorders in 2001, same-sex unions are stillconsidered immoral by the authorities.


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

-Media Matters: "AP misrepresents McCain's positions on same-sex marriage,civil unions, abortion"
On August 27, the Associated Press, in an article headlined "GOP takes hardline on abortion for its platform," reported that "[Sen. John] McCainopposes gay marriage but also is against a constitutional amendment againstit. He has expressed limited support for the rights accorded couples insame-sex civil unions." The article also stated, "Apart from opposing aconstitutional amendment to ban abortion, [McCain] is against most abortionrights and says he would favor overturning the Supreme Court decisionaffirming those rights." In fact, McCain has expressed support for a stateconstitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions and fora federal constitutional amendment banning abortion in most cases.

-"Senegal jails Belgian, domestic helper for 'gay marriage': lawyer"
Senegal has jailed a Belgian retiree and his male Senegalese domestic helperfor two years for "homosexual marriage and acts against nature," theirlawyer said Thursday. Richard Lambot, 61, and Moustapha Gueye, 63, whowedded in Belgium -- where civil gay marriage is legal -- last month, weresentenced by the Dakar regional court on Augusut 21, said lawyer SeyniNdione. [...] Homosexuality in Senegal can lead to five years in prisonand fines running up to 1.5 million CFA francs (2,300 euros, 3,380 dollars).In February, five people were detained for several days, then freed withoutcharge, after a symbolic wedding between two men near Dakar.

-Newsom in spotlight as a 'hotshot to watch'
Four years ago, Newsom was a pariah at the 2004 Democratic NationalConvention. Democrats were angry that he had sanctioned San Francisco tobegin allowing same sex marriages, and blamed him for the backlash ofanti-gay marriage initiatives across the country. He still sounds hurttalking about how some of his closest political mentors shunned him. Muchhas changed this year. Newsom has been everywhere in Denver this week,boosting his national profile with a bottomless list of stop-bys andfeatured appearances. Within 36 hours, he was being vetted/honored by theWashington media elite, toasted by California's gay and lesbian caucus, andinterviewing top Facebook and YouTube officials on his local talk show.

-Jay Bakker and Religious Straight Americans Speak Up for Gay andTransgender Neighbors
Excerpt: Jay Bakker is the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner. Hisnon-traditional approach to ministry achieved national attention in theSundance Channel documentary One Punk Under God, which documented hisjourney to become a gay-affirming Christian. Like Bakker, Michelle Garlandhas been on a journey to support gay and transgender friends. A ModernOrthodox Jew and married mother of three, Garland initially feared that,even as a straight woman, she would become the target of harassment.


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

-UK: Cardinal's body to be dismembered
Bones to be displayed as holy relics
Cardinal Newman's wishes violated by Vatican
"The Pope has strong-armed the Ministry of Justice to waive the law andallow the exhumation and reburial of Cardinal John Henry Newman," accordingto human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. "The rarely granted speciallicence for exhumation was approved by the Ministry of Justice burialsdepartment, headed by Catholic MP, Bridget Prentice. "It is entirelyinappropriate that a Catholic Minister should have overseen the granting ofthis exceptional legal dispensation. It will inevitably lead to allegationsthat the Minister has, as a loyal Catholic, shown favouritism. "JusticeSecretary Jack Straw MP has authorised the process that will lead to thedisinterment and dismemberment of Newman's body, contrary to Newman's ownrepeatedly expressed wishes to remain buried in the same grave as the man heloved, Father Ambrose St John. They have remained buried side by side forover 100 years, since Newman's death in 1890. "The government is complicitin this act of grave-robbing, sacrilege and desecration. Allowing theCatholic Church to over-ride Newman's explicit instructions to his executorsis truly shameful. The Pope does not have the right to violate theCardinal's wishes. "The Catholic Church has admitted that it plans to breakup parts of Newman's body and display some of his bones as holy relics. TheMinistry of Justice accepted these plans at a meeting with Catholicrepresentatives in July," notes Mr Tatchell.

-Ireland: Teenagers thrown out of their homes for being gay
Homophobia is still a significant problem in schools, with teachersill-equipped to talk about the issue of sexuality, a support network forgays and lesbians has claimed. Rainbow Support Services (RSS) said it wasrecently forced to find accommodation for a 16-year-old boy and girl fromthe mid-west after they were forced out of their homes and schools after'coming out' about being gay. RSS co-ordinator Vanessa Buswell said theteenagers had to find work after they were "thrown out" of home. She saidhomophobia was a greater problem in schools than in the home. A recentsurvey by Trinity College found 50% of gay and lesbian students weresubjected to bullying in school. This compares with 16% who are bulliedoutside of school.

-Norway: Islamic Council says imams should listen to homosexuals
The Islamic Council of Norway doesn't want homosexuals, Muslim or not, to bein the closet
They live in Norway, a democratic country, and they are free to comeout,says Senaid Kobilica of the Islamic council of Norway to Dagsavisen. He stresses that nobody should live in fear and points to violent incidents where homosexuals were beaten due to the sexual inclination. "Mostof all they need somebody to speak with. Imams must therefore be opento listen to homosexual Muslims. We recommend that everybody respecthomosexuals and lesbians", says Kobilica. http://europenews.dk/en/node/13484

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