GLBT DIGEST - October 13, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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

-Ex-Minn. legislator Allan Spear, gay pioneer, dies
Allan H. Spear, a former Minnesota state senator who was one of the nation's first openly gay legislators, has died. He was 71. He died Saturday of complications after heart surgery performed Thursday, said Don Jorovsky, a longtime friend who used to work for Spear.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/12/AR2008101201933.html

-In Africa, Pregnancy's Dangers
In Sierra Leone, Every Pregnancy Is a 'Chance of Dying
Sierra Leone has one of the world's highest fertility rates, yet women rely on poorly trained midwives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/12/AR2008101201886.html?hpid=topnews


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

-Being gay is a choice? Not that again
So one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's best friends is gay. Her pal ''happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made,'' Palin told Katie Couric recently. That language resurfaced in the vice-presidential debate, when Palin insisted that she was ''tolerant'' of Americans ``choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/inbox/story/721517.html


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

-In 2007 the UK government deported 63,140 migrants. Airline companies are a key link in the deportation industry. Without them it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the state to implement this aspect of the migration regime and there can be no migration controls without deportations. People who are being deported are often handcuffed on the flight and there have been a number reports of physical assaults on deportees by the security personnel who escort them.
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2008/10/shut-down-bmi-airlines-day.html


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

-Survey: Most Finns Would Accept Openly Gay Editor-in-Chief
A majority of Finns would have no objection to an openly gay person being the editor-in-chief of a newspaper. Only the question of either a gay president or pastor divides opinions. Most residents of Finnish Lapland would accept an openly lesbian editor-in-chief. According to a survey commissioned from pollster Taloustutkimus by the syndicated newspaper supplement Sunnuntaisuomalainen, 93% of those asked in the province of Lapland would be happy with an openly lesbian editor-in-chief. Nationwide the figure stands at 85%
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id104302.html

-People are dying because gay men can't give blood
One HIV-positive blood donation will slip through every 5,769 years. When I was a student, I went along with a group of my friends to give blood, clutching my arm nervously. All summer, increasingly desperate adverts had been warning that NHS blood banks were on the brink of drying up, and I felt I had a debt to repay: a few months before, my grandmother had been hit by a car, and quarts of blood from anonymous donors saved her life. The posters said: "Anyone with a heart can give blood." As we waited for the jab, we all filled in a questionnaire. My friends were led in one-by-one to donate - but I was taken aside and told: we don't want your blood. You're gay. The rules state: "You should never give blood if you are a man who has had sex with another man, even 'safe sex' using a condom." If you have ever had gay sex, the NHS considers your blood contaminated for life. But a court case unfolding in Australia has exposed the bad science behind this ban - and shown that it endangers all of us, gay and straight. The defenders of the ban have a superficially plausible case. All donated blood is obviously tested carefully - but it can take a few months for the HIV virus to show up.
www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-people-are-dying-because-gay-men-cant-give-blood-959316.html


=
Gay.com
http://www.gay.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Op-ed: Keep Same-Sex Marriage OUT of Election
Much attention has been recently paid to the scant amount of attention both McCain and Obama are paying to gay issues. Indeed,with same-sex marriage amendments pending in three states (California, Florida and Arizona), the two candidates have been, for the most part, surprisingly mum.
http://hottopics.gay.com/2008/09/lets-keep-the-g.html


=
HeartStrong
http://www.heartstrong.org
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-Liberty University At It Again;
HeartStrong Invokes Outreach Effort
Dean of Liberty University School of Law Gets Away with Gay Bashing; Welfare of Persecuted GLBT Students at Liberty Once Again a National Concern In a serious instance of religious school leadership openly attempting to create a culture of religion-based fear self-hatred for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, Mat Staver, the Dean of the Liberty University School of Law and head of the Liberty Counsel, stated that Washington Mutual, Wachovia Bank, and even Kmart, "both of which actively promoted the homosexual agenda, have come to realize that anti-family policies will bankrupt the bottom line." As a former student and employee of Liberty University, I can tell you faith-based anti-GLBT bullying and persecution is nothing new coming from religious leadership at this place. For more than a decade, HeartStrong has spent countless hours and hundreds of thousands of miles not just providing support to GLBT students who are subjected to faith-based GLBT bullying and persecution at religious educational institutions but also educating the public about what goes on in these schools. Specifically, HeartStrong has made a great effort to make sure the public understands the reality of what students are being fed when it comes to leadership making anti-GLBT comments and positioning them as truth that must be accepted and respected.


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

-Marriage ruling not end to debate in Conn.
Now that the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled same-sex couples have the right to wed, opponents of gay marriage are pinning their hopes on an infrequent ballot question in a longshot bid to block the unions.
http://www.365gay.com/news/marriage-ruling-not-end-to-debate-in-conn/


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

-Will A Wealthy Social Conservative Have His Way With California Voters Again?
Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr., has put $900,000 of his own money into passing California's gay marriage ban, but it's not the first time the flush ascetic has injected his religious views into politics. From stemming affirmative action to stoking unrest within the Episcopal Church, Ahmanson has been one of the most influential political donors in the country.
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid63608.asp


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

-Colombia: Senate rejects same-sex partnership bill AGAIN
Link: Blabbeando: Colombia: Senate rejects same-sex partnership bill AGAIN; gay-friendly Notary Public shot to death in Bogota
Without much fanfare, a Colombian Senate committee rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have brought the legislative branch of the Colombian government up to speed with several Constitutional Court rulings determining that same-sex couples should be granted access to limited partnership benefits. According to a statement released by Senator Gloria Inés Ramírez, the bill would have addressed what the country's top court identified as a legislative "deficit of protection" for same-sex couples. It would also have extended all the legal rights and protections already afforded to heterosexual couples in a common-law unions or long-term partnerships to same-sex couples.

-Bush the last president to run against gay rights?
Link: Countdown to Crawford blog - Los Angeles Times
For more than four years, the Bush White House has run against any changes in the law that would allow gay Americans -- even his vice president's daughter -- to marry. Under the guidance of political maestro Karl Rove, George W. Bush even ran against gay rights in his 2004 reelection bid. The strategy: push a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman and thereby stir the base of evangelicals to the polls. It worked.

-Mass. Archdiocese at odds with marriage foes
Link: Boston Globe - Articles of Faith blog
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, although staunchly opposed to gay marriage, is declining to support an effort to gather signatures at Masses for a referendum that would bar out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts. The controversy apparently began last weekend, when Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, at the annual Walk for Life event, signed a petition supporting the referendum. Then the organization supporting the referendum, MassResistance, wrote to parishes, citing O'Malley's support and asking priests to gather signatures. That prompted the following e-mail from the archdiocese to pastors:

-CA: Class surprises lesbian teacher on wedding day
Link: San Francisco Chronicle
A group of San Francisco first-graders took an unusual field trip to City Hall on Friday to toss rose petals on their just-married lesbian teacher - putting the public school children at the center of a fierce election battle over the fate of same-sex marriage. The 18 Creative Arts Charter School students took a Muni bus and walked a block at noon to toss rose petals and blow bubbles on their just-married teacher Erin Carder and her wife Kerri McCoy, giggling and squealing as they mobbed their teacher with hugs.

-CA: County clerks furious at changes in marriage form
Link: San Jose Mercury News
County clerks across California are up in arms about the state's recent decision to rush through a change allowing couples to once again mark "bride'' and "groom'' on marriage licenses instead of "Party A" and "Party B.'' The clerks say they're angry because state officials made the change without their advice after some heterosexual couples complained about having to use the gender-neutral terms on California's new marriage license - necessitated by May's Supreme Court decision giving gays and lesbians the right to marry. Clerks and other county officials say they support the decision to give couples the option of identifying themselves as bride and groom. But the clerks say they're short-staffed and that changing the forms will be time-consuming as they prepare for the Nov. 4 election. Besides, they say, the forms were scheduled to change after Jan. 1 anyway to address a new state law.


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

-George Michael cut from Brits following drug arrest
Pop star George Michael has been dropped from the Brit Awards 2009 due to his recent arrest for drugs offences. The singer, 45, was reportedly going to be honoured with the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, but organisers of the awards ceremony are now said to be searching for a different candidate to give the award to.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9279.html

-US celebs tell straight teens to stop saying 'that's so gay'
A new campaign that aims to raise awareness among straight teenagers about the consequences of homophobic language in American schools has been launched. The new ads are being distributed to 33,000 media stations across the US and will air and run in advertising time and space donated by the media.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9285.html

-New justice minister rejects Sharia courts in UK
A government minister has said that "very concerned" about Sharia courts operating in the UK. Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim, was promoted to a junior post in the Ministry of Justice earlier this month.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9284.html

-Trans woman gains acceptance as geisha in Japan
A pre-op trans woman claims she became the first ever transsexual geisha after a visit to Kyoto. Mary Murdoch, 68, from Greenwich, said that it was her ambition to dress up as a geisha. She told News Shopper:
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9283.html

-Gay marriage supporters attack Proposition 102 campaign
Gay rights activists in Arizona have vandalised billboards urging people to vote against same sex marriages. In November, residents of Arizona will vote on Proposition 102 of that state's constitution. The amendment says that only marriage between one man and one woman will be recognised in Arizona law.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9282.html

-Students win compensation from school board for gay bullying
Two former high school students have won $300,000 (£172,550) damages after they were subjected to relentless harassment for being gay. In a unanimous decision the California Court of Appeal upheld a jury decision that found Poway Unified School District officials took no action to stop the verbal and physical homophobic attacks on two Poway High School students, Megan Donovan and Joey Ramelli.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9281.html

-Ban on gays in home countries not enough to claim asylum, says immigration boss
Lin Homer, chief executive of the Borders and Immigration Agency (BIA), has caused a furore by amongst human rights groups. Ms Homer said at a conference organised by the Scottish Refugee Council in Glasgow that judges consider the "practical consequences" of sending gay asylum seekers back to their country of origin, and not that country's social or legal views on homosexuality.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9280.html


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

-OH: Citizen Patrols, Cameras Proposed in Bar Areas
by Eric Sever | Gay People's Chronicle
Cleveland-In response to several attacks on gay men during the summer, members of City Council and the Cleveland Police Department met with more than 60 citizens to discuss the safety of the city's LGBT community. The October 7 town hall meeting, hosted by the Cleveland LGBT Center and the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization, brought together Cleveland councilors Joe Cimperman, Zachary Reed, Jay Westbrook, Matt Zone, and Lakewood's Nickie Antonio, as well as representatives from the mayor's office and local business owners.

-Goodbye to the GLBT Movement
by Dale Carpenter | Independent Gay Forum
First published in the Bay Area Reporter on October 9, 2008
Not long ago columnist Wayne Besen wrote that gay Republicans have "no place" in the "GLBT movement." Because they support John McCain this year, he charged they are "shamefully in cahoots" with anti-gay forces. He claimed they have a "suicidal tendency" they must overcome. The only thing missing was the tired analogy to Jewish Nazis. Besen is no kook. He's a widely read gay writer who fits squarely in the mainstream of the GLBT movement. It's safe to say he was only expressing openly what many people, especially leaders and activists, within the movement privately think about gay conservatives. In fact, Besen's column was only the latest in a barrage of attacks against gay conservatives this election season. Time and again gay conservatives have been called self-hating, treasonous, and selfish. It's the worst vitriol against gay conservatives I've seen in fifteen years in this movement.

-How 25 Years of Gay Activism in Hollywood Has Paid Off
Robert Knight | Free Republic
If you're noticing your TV screen turning pink, it's not just your imagination. The new broadcast TV season includes 22 series featuring a total of 35 openly gay characters, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). GLAAD, which rides herd over all Hollywood scripts dealing with homosexuality, says the number of series with homosexual characters is a record. These series are on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and the CW networks. The total figure does not include shows on cable, like The L Word on Showtime, or MTV's all-gay LOGO network. A new Eye on Culture report from the Culture and Media Institute, "Lavender Propaganda," reveals the depth and breadth of the current media campaign to promote homosexuality to average Americans. But Hollywood became a uniformly pro-gay industry well before Will & Grace or the slew of 2008-9 network shows.

-India a Hot Spot for Gay Couples Keen on Babies
The Times of India
MUMBAI: They don't make a traditional family portrait, but there is steady stream of gay couples coming to the city for infertility treatment to have babies. The ongoing debate in court on Article 377 notwithstanding, India is being seen as an affordable haven for gay couples, whether married or not, who want to be parents. In fact, in the last week of September, city's infertility specialist Dr Gautam Allahabadia spoke at the fourth world congress of the World Association of Reproductive Medicine in Mexico about his Bandra clinic's experience with 12 gay couples. "From 2005 to 2007, 12 same-sex gay couples were treated with a total of 16 oocyte retrieval cycles," he told the audience, which included the creator of Dolly, the cloned sheep, Dr K H S Campbell.

-Overcoming Bigotry
Andoni | Citizen Crain
I'm back from my Greek island. Of note is that when I arrived in Greece I had to pay 1.5 dollars for one Euro. When I left, I got back merely 1.2 dollars for every Euro. As I said in "The view from Europe," although the Europeans were at first gloating over our economic woes, they soon realized that it would affect them too - that we are all linked together. As a result many are moving their money to dollars as a safe haven - and making the dollar rise in value. To view our presidential election from outside the United States was fascinating. I speak Greek, so I was able to get unfiltered views directly from the locals. One interesting observation was that a great many people referred to our two candidates as "the old an" and "the black man." A few actually knew McCain's name, so it was "McCain" versus "the lack man." It's telling that Obama was almost always "the black man." Greece could never be called bastion of racial equal opportunity (or religious equal opportunity, for that matter). Greeks are not a tolerant people with respect to race. The country is nearly 100% white and any other color really tands out as a visitor or student - and these people are not accepted as intellectually or socially equal. Read more


=
Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Obama Voters May Scuttle Same-Sex Marriage Efforts
Same-sex marriage advocates in Florida, Arizona, and California may face their toughest opponents in the wave of new, minority voters set to hit the polls next month. Initiatives on those states' Nov. 4 ballots would define marriage as being between one man and one woman, thereby prohibiting same-sex marriage.
http://www.newsmax.com/lowell_ponte/same_sex_marriage/2008/10/12/139767.html


=

[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####