**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.
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid51839.asp
Coalition Building in South Carolina
By Kerry Eleveld
An Advocate.com exclusive posted January 25, 2008
Susie Prueter and other LGBT activists in South Carolina have been buildingup their relationship with the state Democratic Party. One majorbreakthrough came during the CNN/YouTube debate in Charleston last summer.Check out our pre-primary blogging about the intersection of race and LGBTissues in S.C.
One of the brighter spots of the LGBT political work being done in SouthCarolina has been the community's evolving relationship with the stateDemocratic Party.
Susie Prueter, the former president of AFFA (Alliance For Full Acceptance --one of South Carolina's LGBT rights organizations) from 2004 to 2007, saidshe and other gay activists decided around 2005 that they simply had to getinvolved in other causes besides their own -- from the NAACP to PlannedParenthood to the Democratic Party. "There's a great Woody Allen quote that90% of life is simply showing up," says Prueter. "We just started showingup."
But before making real gains, the community suffered one major setback.During their 2006 marriage amendment fight, they managed to get a resolutionincluded on the state party platform stating that the Democratic Partyopposed the marriage amendment (passing this resolution would have helped toensure that Democratic members of the legislature would have to vote againstthe amendment). But just before passing the entire platform, the partyleadership added a last-minute caveat that Democratic legislators didn'tnecessarily have to support the platform (meaning they could vote in favorof the marriage amendment even though the party platform opposed it).
"It happened in the blink of an eye," says Prueter, adding that no debate onthe caveat was allowed. Even after that blow, the community kept showing up."We just tried to stay positive. We wanted to make sure that the GLBTcommunity was active in the political process, to show that we want to growthe Democratic Party, that we aren't just a single-issue constituency, andthat we are a valuable part of the party," says Prueter.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Ellis Avery and Mark Doty win 2008 Stonewall Awards
Awards for LGBT literature from the American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/glbtrt/welcomeglbtround.cfm
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Round Table (GLBTRT) of theAmerican Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the winners of the2008 Stonewall Book Awards. Ellis Avery (left), author of The Teahouse Fire,published by Riverhead Books, is the winner of the Barbara Gittings BookAward in Literature, and Mark Doty, author of Dog Years: A Memoir, pubishedby HarperCollins Publishers, is the winner of the Israel Fishman Book Awardfor Nonfiction.
The announcement was made January 14, at the ALA Midwinter Meeting inPhiladelphia This year marks the 37th anniversary of the Stonewall BookAwards. The awards will be presented to the winners at the 2008 ALA AnnualConference in Anaheim, Calif. on June 30.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The photo is of Ellis accepting the 2006 Betty Berzon Awardfor Lesbian Debut Fiction at the 19th Lambda Literary Awards, forThe Teahouse Fire.
Find out more at http://www.ala.org/ala/glbtrt/welcomeglbtround.cfm
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Gay & Lesbian Leadership
SmartBrier
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
For some, Obama sending mixed message on LGBT support
The willingness of presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.,both to bring up the issue of homophobia to black audiences and acceptsupport from some black religious leaders who endorse the ex-gay movement israising questions about where he really stands among some LGBT people,according to this article. "People are confused," said gay activist WayneBesen. "We see one report of him saying powerful words. Then he is hangingout with some shady characters. People don't know what to make of that." ThePolitico (Washington) (1/23)
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New Mexico House OKs DP rights for all unmarried couples
The New Mexico House has approved a domestic-partnership measure that wouldgrant marriage-like rights and benefits to same- and opposite-sex couples. Asimilar bill died in the state Senate last year, but Senate Majority LeaderMichael Sanchez, D-Belen, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about itsprospects this time around. Las Cruces Sun-News (N.M.)/Associated Press(1/24)
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Organizers from Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT rights groups metWednesday in Long Island, N.Y., to strategize on how to unseat some key,unnamed state senators whom they believe are blocking the advance of equalmarriage rights in the Empire State. "The future of marriage equality couldvery well be decided on Long Island this November," said HRC national fielddirector Marty Rouse, who grew up in Hauppauge. Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.)(1/24)
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Out Maryland state Sen. Rich Madaleno, along with Sen. Jamie Raskin, bothD-Montgomery County, are assuming lead sponsor duties on the state's equalmarriage rights bill. Sen. Gwendolyn Britt, the original sponsor of theReligious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act, died on Jan. 12 at age66. The bill was tentatively scheduled to be introduced today in the GeneralAssembly, according to this article. Washington Blade (1/23)
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Puerto Rico governor won't stop marriage ballot measure if it clears House
USA TODAY/Associated Press (1/23)
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Lawsuit exposes alleged rivalry between black, gay DNC staffers
Washington Blade (1/24)
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Iowa judge who ruled in favor of equal marriage rights targeted forimpeachment
365Gay.com (1/24)
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Learn to run a winning campaign!
The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute is bringing its renowned Candidate &Campaign Training to Charlotte, NC. Join us Feb. 21 to 24 to learn how tobuild a winning campaign. Whether you're running as openly LGBT or workingon a campaign, our training will provide you with the tools you need forsuccess. Click here to learn more and apply by Jan. 28.
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Gore posts video backing marriage, LGBT rights
Former Vice President Al Gore's video clip declaring his his strong supportfor equal marriage rights for LGBT people has been making its way around theblogosphere. View clip here. Read more in The Politico, Towleroad.com andThe New York Times.
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Everyday gay athletes set the tone
Every year in Aspen, Colo., a team of gay hockey players vies with a team ofstraights for bragging rights in the local Friendship Cup. The striving ofsuch everyday, amateur athletes will set the tone for big-name stars to comeout, according to ESPN columnist LZ Granderson. ESPN.com (1/22)
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New York City: Forum to Feature African LGBT Activists
PFLAG New York City is co-sponsoring an upcoming public forum featuring gayactivists Emmanuel Kamau of Kenya and Davis Mac-Iyalla of Nigeria on thepresent day-experiences of gay Christians in Kenya and Nigeria. The forum isorganized by Maranatha and Other Sheep and will take place on Sunday, Feb.17, 1-3 PM, at The Riverside Church (490 Riverside Drive, Manhattan). JoseOrtiz, Other Sheep co-Coordinator for Africa, will join in a paneldiscussion.
Of particular interest to the PFLAG community, Ortiz and Other SheepExecutive Director Steve Parelli recently visited Nairobi where they workedwith a group of straight and LGBT Kenyans to found PFLAG Nairobi.
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From Gays Without Borders
http://www.iranhr.net/spip.php?article167
Iram Human Rights, January 25: The state-run news agency ISCANEWS reportedthat several members of two separate groups accused of recording anddistribution pornographic movies, were arrested. According to the report,the security forces in Gachsaaraan (west of Iran) arrested two young men,identified as "Mehrdad A." and "Behnam B." carrying CDs where two of themwere along with 2 other men and women, were involved in sexual acts.
According to the same report two unnamed individuals were arrested in theWest-Azarbaijan accused of distribution of "black" movies (This is a termused for movies containing sexual scenes). who have confessed of raping agirl and taking film and pictures with the cell phones.
Iran Human Rights has received from the "Human Rights Activists in Iran"where ther express concern regarding the safety of two arrested homosexuals.According to the letter "two young homosexuals, a 19 year old male namedHamze Chavi and an 18 year old male named Loghman Hamzepour were arrested bythe National Security Police in the small city of Sardasht which is in theprovince of Azarbaijan. The arrest took place after a tape of theirhomosexual activities was leaked to the police. The two individuals arecurrently in custody. Under the Islamic Law the punishment for homosexualsis death and the lives of these two individuals may very well be in danger.It must be mentioned that at least 10 other people have been arrested inrelation with this tape"
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Bay Area Reporter
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2637
Bay Area LGBT Community Splits Support Among
Top 3 Dem Candidates
From the Bay Area Reporter:
"Within the LGBT community in northern California there does not appear tobe a Democratic frontrunner in the party's pack of presidential contenders.As in the Democratic Party at large, support seems to be distributed amongClinton, Obama, and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards.
None of the three have been able to clinch any endorsements from local LGBTDemocratic clubs. No candidate received the required 60 percent needed tosecure the support of either the Alice B. Toklas or Harvey Milk clubs, whichheld endorsement votes last month.
Up in Sacramento one of the country's largest Stonewall Democrats chaptersalso failed to coalesce around one candidate when it met Monday, January 14to decide its endorsement in the primary. According to the club, the topvote getter was Edwards with 14 votes; Clinton took second with 11; andObama trailed at third with nine votes.
The Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club opted not to endorse in the race,though it will conduct a straw poll at its presidential forum next week."
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To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News
Information, news, and discussion about the legal recognition of same-sexcouples and their families, including marriages, domestic partnerships,civil unions, adoptions, foster children and similar issues.
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Advocates for same-sex "marriage" in Maryland say they will lobby lawmakersthrough the 2008 General Assembly session, despite lawmakers saying theyhave no plans to address the issue. Bills to change Maryland law statingonly men and women can marry are due for introduction today, and supporterssay they are increasing efforts to persuade lawmakers to consider them. "Wecan't be afraid, because there's nothing to be afraid of," said DelegateVictor R. Ramirez, Prince George's Democrat and a sponsor of one of thebills.
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Indiana: Senate committee passed same-sex marriage ban by a 5-4 vote Aproposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage continues to move throughthe Statehouse.On a party-line vote, five to four, the Senate JudiciaryCommittee gave the green light to the ban. It came after 90 minutes ofimpassioned testimony. But all of this may ultimately be meaningless. "Whatit will do is change the future. And the future is one of groups who seek toimpose significant social change upon our state via judicial activism," saidSen. Brandt Hershman (R) of Wheatfield.In 2007, the marriage amendment diedin the house. That may well happen again. But not before those on both sidesof the issue speak out. "Anything that makes Indiana less inclusive for ourcurrent and future employees makes it more difficult for Cummins toeffectively compete in the global economy," said Mark Osowich of CumminsInc.
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Former Vice President and Nobel laureate Al Gore was shown making a speechin support of gay marriage. A week-old video of him openly announcing hisendorsement was posted on his website Current TV. The video was titled, "Gaymen and women should have the same rights." "I think that gay men and womenought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women, to makecontracts, to have hospital visiting rights and to join together inmarriage," Gore announced. "And I don't understand why it is considered bysome people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage to allow it by gays andlesbians." "Shouldn't we be promoting that kind of faithfulness and loyaltyto one's partner regardless of sexual orientation?"
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(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Over two-thirds of people in Sweden are infavour of allowing homosexual partners to enter wedlock, according to a pollby Sifo published in Svenska Dagbladet. 71 per cent of respondents agreewith allowing homosexual couples to get married, while 24 per cent disagree.
Same-sex marriage is currently legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain,Canada and South Africa, and at least 18 countries offer some form of legalrecognition to same sex unions.
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New York: A coalition of politically active gay rights groups gathered at aRockville Centre synagogue last night to explain its strategy to oust statelawmakers they said have blocked legislation supporting same-sex marriage.
Leaders of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization,said they plan to focus on a few key Long Island races, but they declined toname the candidates involved."The future of marriage equality could verywell be decided on Long Island this November," said Marty Rouse, who grew upin Hauppauge and is now the organization's national field director.
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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Ledger Funeral Arrangements A Mystery
(New York City) Details about funeral arrangements for actor Heath Ledgerremained secret Saturday as authorities await a toxicology report that couldshow the cause of his death.
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Arkansas Voter Drive Kicked Off To Bar Gays From Adopting
Little Rock, Arkansas) A conservative social policy group launched itscampaign Thursday to collect enough signatures to force a ballot measure inNovember to bar same-sex or unmarried opposite-sex couples from adopting orbecoming foster parents in Arkansas.
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Spinster Sisters Claim UK Gay Partner Law Discriminates Against Them
(London) Two elderly sisters who live together say they could lose theirfamily home because they are victims of discrimination under Britain's civilpartner law and they've taken their case to European Court of Human Rightsin Strasbourg.
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Gay Moderate Italian PM Prodi Resigns
(Rome) Italian Premier Romano Prodi has submitted his government'sresignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after losing a confidence votein Parliament.
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Gay Marriage Bill Introduced In Maryland
(Annapolis, Maryland) Legislation was introduced in both houses of theMaryland legislature Friday that would allow same-sex couples to marry.
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NM House OKs Domestic Partner Bill
(Santa Fe, New Mexico) A domestic partner bill that died in the New Mexicolegislature last year has had new life breathed into it and passed the Houseon a 33 - 31 vote.
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Campaign Frustrates Some Gay Leaders
(New York City) Few constituencies are as eager for the Republican Party tofalter this political season as gay-rights activists. Yet as they observethe Democratic presidential campaign and the rest of the electorallandscape, their high hopes often are mixed with frustration.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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House OKs Domestic-Partnership Bill
Gay and heterosexual couples could form domestic partnerships and enjoy thesame rights and benefits as married couples under legislation approved bythe House on Thursday. "This is a bill about fairness and justice," saidRep. Mimi Stewart, an Albuquerque Democrat. "This bill would offer basiclegal protections to same-sex couples unable to marry as well opposite-sexcouples, many of whom are senior citizens and people with disabilities, thatchoose not to marry for financial reasons."
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Meet the Gay Dr. McDreamy
How do I come out to my doctor? What sexually transmitted diseases am I at ahigher risk of contracting because I am a gay man? Is there any truth to theconcept of HIV re-infection? Will casual drug use really hurt me that much?
What's the real deal on the 'flesh-eating' MRSA bacteria I keep readingabout affecting gay men in urban areas? If you've ever asked any of thesequestions, The Advocate Guide to Gay Men's Health and Wellness by Dr. FrankSpinelli will provide the kind of straightforward and honest answers you'vebeen in search of.
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Andy Scott-Lee, Donkey Impersonator
Renowned heterosexual Andy Scott-Lee has told fab Brighton mag 3Sixty thathe is hung like the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem.A slightly hystericalpress release heralded this important information. Aaah, schlong - there's aword you don't hear every day.
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Gay Rodeo Dreams
"I grew up dreaming of being a cowboy," Willie Nelson sings, "Loving thecowboy ways." Lots of gay men and lesbians had those same dreams as kids,and now they're able to live them out through the International Gay RodeoAssociation (IGRA), which has has many Member Associations representingstates, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces.
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Gay Holocaust Victims to be Remembered in Westminster
Homosexuals murdered by the Nazis will be among those remembered at a solemnceremony on Monday in Westminster to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.150teenagers and young people from across the London borough will present apowerful and poignant mix of drama, video and singing through a series ofdigital media presentations as they take part in a solemn ceremony.
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New Disappearances in Iraq
Seven gay and three transgendered Iraqis have disappeared in the past monthand a half and are presumed to be the latest victims of the lethal campaignof sexual cleansing by anti-gay Shiite death squads, according to theLondon-based group Iraqi LGBT.
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Rainbow Tours' New Gay & Lesbian Escorted Tours Hit West Coast
Touring the gayer side of the West Coast just got a little easier thanks tothe launch of the first and only inbound tour operator company in Californiaserving the gay and lesbian community exclusively. Based in West HollywoodCA, Rainbow Tours has begun offering gay specific escorted tours of LosAngeles, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas and the Nationalparks.
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Growing Support for Russia's First GLBT Film Festival
In recent days Side by Side ("Bok o Bok"), Russia's first annualinternational lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film festival scheduledfor 2-5 October, 2008 in Saint Petersburg, has been receiving anunprecedented level of attention in the nation's press and media.
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D-Day For Festival
Today is a big day for those interested in Manchester's Queer Up Northfestival, as it is the time that the Arts Council considers both therecommendations of their board and the submitted appeal of the festivalorganisers to decide its fate.And it's a period that has left festivaldirector Jonathan Best (pictured) philosophical but also more than a littleexasperated.
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'Fat Girls' Doesn't Measure Up
The thinking behind Ash Christian's Fat Girls seems to be: Why shouldstraights have a monopoly on lazy and crass coming-of-age stories? Gaypeople have bodily fluids, too!
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Anti-Gay Group Plans Picket of Funeral
A fundamentalist group known for its virulent anti-gay stance is planning topicket the upcoming funeral of actor Heath Ledger, who played a gay cowboyin the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain."Members of the Topeka, Kan.-basedWestbro Baptist Church said they would protest the funeral at the Frank F.Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan. A date has not yet been set.
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Outdated Law: Utah Should Allow Same-Sex Couples to Adopt
Utah's law banning adoptions by gay and lesbian couples and unmarriedstraight couples was a deplorable codification of bigotry in 2000 when itwas passed. That hasn't changed. But after eight years the law has become anillogical anachronism, considering the results of new studies, and it shouldbe changed. The number of same-sex couples who are raising childrenincreased by a third from 2000 to 2005, and the body of research showingthat children raised by homosexual couples have no more problems than thosefrom homes with a mother and a father has also grown.
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Park City '08 Dispatch - Queer Cinema Then and Now at Sundance '08
A rather staggering forty-four films with either GLBT themes or a GLBTdirector are screening at this year's Sundance Film Festival, including newworks from directors Tom Kalin ("Savage Grace"), Isaac Julien's "Derek"),Bruce LaBruce ("Otto; Or Up With Dead People"), producer Christine Vachon,as well as a screening of Gregg Araki's remastered "The Living End." Thefilms inspired a reunion of sorts at this year's festival, anchored onSaturday night with a dinner celebrating the group of queer films. Inremarks during dinner B. Ruby Rich, who coined the term "New Queer Cinema"at a Sundance panel in 1992, emotionally proclaimed the room as "filled withhistory."
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Get In the Gay Swim of Things
They have wonderful names-the Atlanta Rainbow Trout, the Queer Utah AthleticClub (QUAC), and SQUID-Swimming Queers United in Denver. They're gay andlesbian swim clubs, and they're splashing through pools around the world.
There may even be one in your own home town. These clubs are a great way tokeep in shape while making new friends and contributing to your community.
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North Carolina State University: GLBT Center Has Grand OpeningThe
University's new Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center had itsgrandopening yesterday in the Talley Student Center Lobby. Approximately150people came to celebrate the Center's opening.
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1st Asia Pacific Outgames
Bust out the Speedos and sunscreen as the eyes of the queer sporting worldwill soon be on Melbourne, Australia, host to the first Asia PacificOutgames held Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 2008.So we have Fat Girls, the story of RodneyChristian), a small-town Texas high school senior on a mission to, yes,find his inner fat girl. Fat girl being synonymous with being comfortable inyour own skin, an odd metaphor given our national obsession with weightloss.
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Saturday, January 26, 2008
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST January 26, 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.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012503020_pf.html
Giving Moderate Baptists a Stronger Voice
Coalition of Churches and Political Heavyweights Meeting in Atlanta toReshape Denomination's Image
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 26, 2008; B09
More than 30 groups representing over 20 million Baptists will gather nextweek in Atlanta for what is being touted as the broadest meeting of Baptistsin the United States since slavery tore the faith apart more than a centuryago.
The gathering -- a brainchild of former president Jimmy Carter, co-chairmanof the event with former president Bill Clinton -- aims to give moderateBaptists a stronger national voice. Many hope it will also serve as acounterweight to the conservative Southern Baptist Convention, which hasbeen closely aligned with the Republican Party.
"In the public eye . . . Baptists only seem to be either denouncing somebodyor fighting among themselves," said Bill Leonard, dean of Wake ForestDivinity School, a member of the conference's program committee. "And thereis a new generation of Baptist ministers -- conservative and liberal -- whoare tired of that."
But fissures are already appearing in the delicate coalition. Baptists whosupport gay rights are unhappy at being blocked from an official role,Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has backed out after Cartermade remarks against President Bush, and there are complaints that themeeting is taking on political overtones.
And leaders of the 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist Convention aren'tattending, saying it is aimed solely at boosting support for the DemocraticParty.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/cl-et-gibson26jan26,0,2322888,print.story
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
John Gibson should lose his platform
The Fox News talk-show host mocked Heath Ledger's death on his radio show.
That's unacceptable, and he should be shunned.
By Mary McNamara
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 26, 2008
Why exactly is John Gibson still on the air?
Three days ago, the Fox News talk-show host opened his radio show withhate-filled, and prepared, mockery of actor Heath Ledger's death. Auditoryclips of Ledger's most famous film, "Brokeback Mountain," played with abackground of funeral music, ending with his character's lover, Jack Twist,saying, "I wish I knew how to quit you."
"Well, he found out how to quit you," Gibson chortled before launching intoa show that repeatedly referenced the 28-year-old actor's death as if itwere some sort of joke. Among other things, Gibson suggested, laughing thewhole time, that the actor had killed himself because of the stock marketdownturn, the stalled John Edwards campaign or because he was just a"weirdo" with "a serious drug problem."
Never mind that the cause of death has yet to be established. Never mindthat even if it were a drug overdose or a suicide, it would still be atragedy, and not because he was a movie star but because he was a28-year-old human being.
After the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and other groupsdenounced Gibson's behavior, he at first defended it as a joke, explainingthat he had long made fun of the "quit you" line and wasn't about to stopnow. Then Thursday, clearly responding to increased pressure, he issued astatement during Fox News' "The Big Story With John Gibson and HeatherNauert," saying he was sorry if some people were offended by his remarks andalso that he was sorry Ledger had died.
more . . . . .
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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120121663246015023.html
Glum Mood Bodes Ill for GOP
Poll Shows Public Is Worried About Jobs and Recession
And Has Little Faith in Bush
By JACKIE CALMES
January 25, 2008; Page A3
Just when it seemed Americans couldn't get any gloomier about the country'sdirection, they have. That finding, from the latest Wall Street Journal/NBCNews poll, could leave Republicans the gloomiest of all, as prospects fortheir party darken further in a presidential-election year.
Amid a weakened economy and market turmoil, President Bush's stock has slidagain as he prepares to deliver his final State of the Union address nextweek, underscoring the burden he could pose for his party's presidentialnominee in the race to November's election.
1. See how support for candidates varies among men and women, urban andrural voters, more.
As for his would-be successors, the Republican candidates remaining in therace have dropped further behind in hypothetical matchups against potentialDemocratic standard-bearers Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The exceptionis Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has revived his still-fragile candidacy andtakes the lead in the contest for the Republican nomination for the firsttime in the poll. (See related article2.) New York Sen. Clinton remainsahead on the Democratic side, though Sen. Obama has cut into heronce-formidable edge. Mr. McCain runs even with both of them in hypotheticalNovember matchups.
The Journal/NBC poll was conducted Sunday through Tuesday, as globalstock-market swoons raised fears of a financial crash, and the FederalReserve intervened with an emergency cut in its short-term interest-ratetarget. As for the political backdrop, the 1,008 adults were interviewedafter news of Saturday's Nevada party caucuses, which Sen. Clinton andRepublican Mitt Romney won, and South Carolina's Republican primary, whereSen. McCain led. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
The poll results confirm that the economy is the top campaign issue for2008, replacing last year's focus on the Iraq war and terrorism. Nearly halfof those polled -- 46% -- say "job creation and economic growth" is theirfirst or second choice for the federal government's top priority. That is 15ercentage points higher than just a month ago, in the previous Journal/NBCpoll. A similar double-digit margin now separates the economic issue fromAmericans' next choices for the country's top priorities -- the Iraq war andhealth care.
more . . . . .
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/26/mccain_tested_on_economy/
McCain tested on economy
Defends his credibility and experience
By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff | January 26, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - In a race increasingly centered on the economy,Republican candidate John McCain yesterday found himself on the defensiveover his credibility on the subject, claiming a career of experience dealingwith the issue and unique abilities in "leadership, not management."
Those words were aimed at former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, alongtime consultant and venture capitalist, who has emphasized his corporatebackground in recent weeks. For much of last year, Romney downplayed hisbusiness experience while trying to appeal to conservative voters largely onsocial and moral issues.
A Romney ad now airing in Florida highlights his experience in the privatesector. "I know how America works, because I spent my life in the realeconomy," he boasts, in front of the Jacksonville skyline.
"Governor Romney is touting his qualities and his experience and resume as amanager; I am telling the American people - and they know it - that I am aleader," McCain said at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale. McCain waschallenged at the news conference over an answer he gave in a debate theprevious night when asked by moderator Tim Russert if he had said he was"not well versed on" economic issues.
"Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from," McCain replied.
more . . . . .
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/26/obama_has_south_carolina_lead_mccain_up_in_florida_poll/
Obama leads South Carolina; McCain up in Florida: poll
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent | January 26, 2008
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Barack Obama expanded his lead on rivalHillary Clinton to 15 points heading into South Carolina's bitterlycontested presidential primary, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby pollreleased on Saturday.
Obama, an Illinois senator, gained two points on Clinton overnight to lead41 percent to 26 percent just hours before voting began in Saturday'sprimary. John Edwards was in third place after slipping two points to 19percent.
In Florida, where Republican presidential contenders meet in a criticalprimary on Tuesday, John McCain had a narrow 3-point advantage on rival MittRomney, 31 percent to 28 percent, in the state's initial rolling poll.
The polls in both states had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Obama has led Clinton by double-digits in all four days of polls in SouthCarolina, fueled by a huge advantage among the black voters who are expectedto make up about half of the electorate in the first Democratic primary inthe South.
more . . . . .
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5487179.html
Prosecutor launches probe into Detroit mayor scandal
Possible felony case has some wondering if he should just resign
By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press
Jan. 25, 2008, 11:02PM
DETROIT - A prosecutor launched an investigation Friday into allegationsthat Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick lied under oath about an affair with histop aide.
Some political observers are questioning whether the popular yet polarizingfigure should stay on the job.
"Can he? Yes. Should he? That's his call," University of Nevada-Renopolitical science professor Eric Herzik said Friday. "But if you are beingprosecuted, your ability to run the city is incredibly compromised."
Others believe Kilpatrick could fight perjury charges and still fulfill hismayoral duties.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Friday that her office wouldinvestigate reports that Kilpatrick and Chief of Staff Christine Beattyexchanged romantic text messages after they testified in a trial last summerthat they did not have a physical relationship in 2002 and 2003.
more . . . . .
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012502520.html
Hey, Pollsters: Democrats Care About Religion, Too
By Leah Daughtry
Saturday, January 26, 2008; 12:00 AM
Religion will play an important role in today's South Carolina Democraticprimary, just as it did in last week's South Carolina Republican primary.The difference is that we'll learn less about how religion affects today'svote than we learned about how it influenced last week's contest.
Last week, thanks to exit polls, we understood the religious breakdown, howoften voters attended religious services, whether they considered themselvesborn-again or evangelical Christians, whether they said the candidates'religious beliefs mattered and what they thought about abortion. And thepolls helped to shape the news coverage, so we saw headlines such as:"Evangelical Republicans Drive S.C. Primary" and Ideology, ReligionImportant in "S.C."
If previous exit polls this cycle are any indicator, religion will be muchless central to the exit polls today. At most, Democrats have been askedwhich religion they identify with and how often they go to church. In Iowaand Michigan, Democrats weren't asked about religion at all. And that, inturn, has shaped the news coverage, making it appear that one party has amonopoly on religion in this race.
I'm chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee and CEO of the 2008emocratic Convention. I'm also an ordained Pentecostal minister. So I'vebeen encouraged by the growing attention paid to the role of religion inpolitics as we go about the important task of electing our next president.I've been disappointed, however, with the focus of the discussion so far.
Democrats have been, are and will continue to be people of faith. My ownsupport for the party stems from my sense that it is most emblematic ofgospel values. Democrats believe in equal opportunity for all Americans,that no child should go to bed hungry or go without health care, that weshould be good stewards of the earth, that we shouldn't pass on debt to ourchildren, and that people who work hard should be able to earn a living wageso they can support their families.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Op-Ed Columnist: Questions for the Clintons
By BOB HERBERT
Charleston, S.C.
January 26, 2008
Joseph P. Riley Jr. has been mayor of this historic and often tense citysince the mid-1970s. He's a Democrat, highly respected and has workeddiligently to heal racial wounds that have festered in some cases forhundreds of years.
He has endorsed Barack Obama in today's Democratic primary. But what struckme during an interview in his quiet office in an exquisitely restored CityHall was not the fact of the endorsement, but the manner in which the mayorexpressed it.
He went out of his way to praise the Democratic field, including some of thecandidates who have dropped out, like Senators Joseph Biden and Chris Dodd.He talked about his fondness for Bill and Hillary Clinton and said: "It'stough when you have to choose between friends."
The mayor's thoughtful, respectful, generous assessment of the field echoedthe tone that had prevailed until recently in the Democratic primarycampaign. That welcome tone has been lost, undermined by a deliberateinjection of ugliness, and it would be very difficult to make the case thatthe Clintons have not been primarily to blame.
Bill Clinton, in his over-the-top advocacy of his wife's candidacy, has attimes sounded like a man who's gone off his medication. And some of theClinton surrogates have been flat-out reprehensible.
Andrew Young, for instance.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26sat2.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Behind the Abortion Decline
January 26, 2008
Coinciding with this month's 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's rulingthat legalized abortion, a new study shows that the United States continuesto make progress on reducing the abortion rate. The progress would begreater if more was done to avoid unintended pregnancies.
Between 2000 and 2005, the last year in the study by the GuttmacherInstitute, the number of abortions performed yearly dropped from 1.3 millionto 1.2 million, the fewest since 1974. The proportion of pregnancies endingin abortion also declined significantly.
Abortion opponents like the National Right to Life Committee seized upon thenumbers as vindication for their strategy of demonizing abortion and makingit harder for women to obtain one. Many states now mandate counselingsessions beforehand. But a harder look at the data suggests anotherexplanation.
Almost two-thirds of the decline in the total number of abortions can betraced to eight jurisdictions with few or no abortion restrictions - NewYork, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, Oregon, WashingtonState and the District of Columbia. These are places, notes the GuttmacherInstitute's president, Sharon Camp, that have shown a commitment to real sexeducation, largely departing from the Bush administration's abstinence-onlyapproach. These jurisdictions also help women avoid unintended pregnanciesby making contraception widely available.
The lesson: prevention works. Restrictions on abortion serve mainly to hurtpoor women by postponing abortions until later in pregnancy. While shiftingsocial mores may change some people's behavior, the best practical strategyfor reducing abortions is to focus on helping women avoid unwantedpregnancies.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26wills.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Contributor: Two Presidents Are Worse Than One
By GARRY WILLS
Evanston, Ill.
January 26, 2008
SENATOR Hillary Clinton has based her campaign on experience - 35 years ofit by her count. That must include her eight years in the White House.
Some may debate whether those years count as executive experience. But therecan be no doubt that her husband had the presidential experience, fully. Hehas shown during his wife's campaign that he is a person of initiative andenergy. Does anyone expect him not to use his experience in an energetic wayif he re-enters the White House as the first spouse?
Mrs. Clinton claims that her time in that role was an active one. He canhardly be expected to show less involvement when he returns to the scene ofhis time in power as the resident expert. He is not the kind to be a pottedplant in the White House.
Which raises an important matter. Do we really want a plural presidency?
This is not a new question. It was intensely debated in the convention thatformulated our Constitution. The Virginia Plan for the new documentsubmitted by Edmund Randolph and the New Jersey Plan submitted by WilliamPaterson left open the number of officers to hold the executive power.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25fri1.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Primary Choices: Hillary Clinton
January 25, 2008
This generally is the stage of a campaign when Democrats have to work hardto get excited about whichever candidate seems most likely to outlast anuninspiring pack. That is not remotely the case this year.
The early primaries produced two powerful main contenders: Hillary Clinton,the brilliant if at times harsh-sounding senator from New York; and BarackObama, the incandescent if still undefined senator from Illinois. Theremaining long shot, John Edwards, has enlivened the race with his own brandof raw populism.
As Democrats look ahead to the primaries in the biggest states on Feb. 5,The Times's editorial board strongly recommends that they select HillaryClinton as their nominee for the 2008 presidential election.
We have enjoyed hearing Mr. Edwards's fiery oratory, but we cannot supporthis candidacy. The former senator from North Carolina has repudiated so manyof his earlier positions, so many of his Senate votes, that we're not surewhere he stands. We certainly don't buy the notion that he can hold back thetide of globalization.
By choosing Mrs. Clinton, we are not denying Mr. Obama's appeal or hisgifts. The idea of the first African-American nominee of a major party alsois exhilarating, and so is the prospect of the first woman nominee."Firstness" is not a reason to choose. The times that false choice has beenraised, more often by Mrs. Clinton, have tarnished the campaign.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25fri2.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Primary Choices: John McCain
January 25, 2008
We have strong disagreements with all the Republicans running for president.The leading candidates have no plan for getting American troops out of Iraq.They are too wedded to discredited economic theories and unwilling even nowto break with the legacy of President Bush. We disagree with them stronglyon what makes a good Supreme Court justice.
Still, there is a choice to be made, and it is an easy one. Senator JohnMcCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bushstyle of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe. With arecord of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation,he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of theRepublican field.
We have shuddered at Mr. McCain's occasional, tactical pander to the rightbecause he has demonstrated that he has the character to stand on principle.He was an early advocate for battling global warming and risked hispresidential bid to uphold fundamental American values in the immigrationdebate. A genuine war hero among Republicans who proclaim their zeal to becommander in chief, Mr. McCain argues passionately that a country'streatment of prisoners in the worst of times says a great deal about itscharacter.
Why, as a New York-based paper, are we not backing Rudolph Giuliani? Why notchoose the man we endorsed for re-election in 1997 after a first term inwhich he showed that a dirty, dangerous, supposedly ungovernable city couldbecome clean, safe and orderly? What about the man who stood fast on Sept.11, when others, including President Bush, went AWOL?
That man is not running for president.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/opinion/24thu1.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Trapped in Gaza
January 24, 2008
The neglect and mistreatment of the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in theGaza Strip is a disgrace, and a very dangerous one. They are pawns in thestruggle among Hamas, which controls Gaza and uses the territory to bombardIsrael daily; its rivals in the Fatah movement that run the PalestinianAuthority and the West Bank; and Israel. If something isn't done quickly toaddress the Gazans' plight, President Bush's Annapolis peace process couldimplode.
It is no wonder that tens of thousands of Palestinians rushed out of Gazainto Egypt on Wednesday after a metal border wall was toppled. Life forGazans, never easy, has been worsening since Hamas seized control lastsummer, and most international aid - except humanitarian assistance - wascut off. Hamas has turned a deaf ear to the Gazans' plight, refusing tonegotiate peace or accept Israel's right to exist.
Life got truly desperate last week when Israel, reacting to a sustained andintense barrage of rocket fire, blockaded Gaza and stopped all shipmentsexcept emergency supplies. When the border wall was breached on Wednesday,Gazans went on a buying spree in Egypt, stocking up on fuel, medicine, soap,cigarettes, cement, chickens and goats.
We are deeply concerned about the many innocent Israelis who live along theborder with Gaza and must suffer through the constant bombardment. ButIsrael's response - shutting off power and other essential supplies - is acollective punishment that will only feed anger and extremism.
Mr. Bush has said that he is committed to negotiating a peace deal betweenthe Israelis and the Palestinians before he leaves office next year.
Allowing Gaza to fester or to erupt into an all-out military confrontationis the surest way to bury that dream.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/world/26abroad.html
U.S. Race Captures World's Eye, and Holds It
By ALAN COWELL
January 26, 2008
DAVOS, Switzerland - To look at the reams of coverage in newspapers outsidethe United States or to follow the hours of television news broadcasts, youmight conclude that foreigners had a vote in selecting an Americanpresidential candidate - or, at least, deserved one, so great is America'sinfluence on their lives.
From Berlin to London to Jakarta, the destinies of Democratic and Republican contenders in Iowa or New Hampshire, or Nevada or South Carolina, havebecome news in a way that most political commentators cannot recall. It isas if outsiders are pining for change in America as much as some Americanpresidential candidates are promising it.
The personalities of the Democratic contest in particular - the potentialharbinger of America's first African-American or female president - havefascinated outsiders as much as, if not more than, the candidates' policieson Iraq, immigration or global finances.
And there is a palpable sense that, while democratic systems seem clunky nduninspiring to voters in many parts of the Western world, America offers potential model for reinvigoration.
"It is in many ways an uplifting sight to see a great democracy functioningat that most basic of levels," said Lord McNally, the leader of the smallopposition Liberal Democrats in Britain's House of Lords. "Even with all themoney, the publicity, the power of television, the person who wants to bethe most powerful man or woman in the world still has to get down and talkin small town halls and stop people on the street and stand on soapboxes."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012601018.html?hpid=topnews
Democrats Begin Voting in S. Carolina
Obama Leads, but Polls Show a Racial Divide
By Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 26, 2008; 8:59 AM
CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 26 -- Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clintonraced through a final day of campaigning Friday before Saturday's SouthCarolina Democratic primary, after a week of angry bickering and with theelectorate here polarized along racial lines.
Obama looked to Saturday's vote in the first Southern presidential contestof the 2008 nomination season to rebound after disappointing losses toClinton in New Hampshire and Nevada, which followed his win in Iowa at thebeginning of the month.
Voting here will be open until 7 p.m.
Late polls showed Obama (Ill.) leading Clinton (N.Y.) and former senatorJohn Edwards (N.C.), and veterans of Democratic campaigns in the statereported that Obama has the superior organization. A defeat here wouldrepresent a major setback for Obama heading into Feb. 5, when more than halfof the pledged delegates to the national convention are at stake in tests in22 states.
The recent focus on race has stirred considerable angst in Obama's innercircle, and as the primary campaign came to a close here, his effort took ona hurried quality, as though the candidate were eager to move past thecontroversies and arguments of the week.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012503500.html?hpid=topnews
Shanghai's Middle Class Launches Quiet, Meticulous Revolt
By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, January 26, 2008; A01
SHANGHAI -- Bundled against the cold, the businessman made his way down thesteps. Coming toward him in blue mittens was a middle-aged woman.
"Do you know that we're going to take a stroll this weekend?" she whispered,using the latest euphemism for the unofficial protests that have unnervedauthorities in Shanghai over the past month.
He nodded.
Behind her, protest banners streamed from the windows of high-rise apartmentblocks, signs of middle-class discontent over a planned extension of thecity's magnetic levitation, or maglev, train through residentialneighborhoods.
The couple checked to make sure no plainclothes police were nearby anddiscussed where security forces had been posted in recent days. "Did youtake any photos?" the man asked. Yes, she said, promising to send them tohim so he could post the evidence online.
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012503020_pf.html
Giving Moderate Baptists a Stronger Voice
Coalition of Churches and Political Heavyweights Meeting in Atlanta toReshape Denomination's Image
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 26, 2008; B09
More than 30 groups representing over 20 million Baptists will gather nextweek in Atlanta for what is being touted as the broadest meeting of Baptistsin the United States since slavery tore the faith apart more than a centuryago.
The gathering -- a brainchild of former president Jimmy Carter, co-chairmanof the event with former president Bill Clinton -- aims to give moderateBaptists a stronger national voice. Many hope it will also serve as acounterweight to the conservative Southern Baptist Convention, which hasbeen closely aligned with the Republican Party.
"In the public eye . . . Baptists only seem to be either denouncing somebodyor fighting among themselves," said Bill Leonard, dean of Wake ForestDivinity School, a member of the conference's program committee. "And thereis a new generation of Baptist ministers -- conservative and liberal -- whoare tired of that."
But fissures are already appearing in the delicate coalition. Baptists whosupport gay rights are unhappy at being blocked from an official role,Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has backed out after Cartermade remarks against President Bush, and there are complaints that themeeting is taking on political overtones.
And leaders of the 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist Convention aren'tattending, saying it is aimed solely at boosting support for the DemocraticParty.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/cl-et-gibson26jan26,0,2322888,print.story
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
John Gibson should lose his platform
The Fox News talk-show host mocked Heath Ledger's death on his radio show.
That's unacceptable, and he should be shunned.
By Mary McNamara
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 26, 2008
Why exactly is John Gibson still on the air?
Three days ago, the Fox News talk-show host opened his radio show withhate-filled, and prepared, mockery of actor Heath Ledger's death. Auditoryclips of Ledger's most famous film, "Brokeback Mountain," played with abackground of funeral music, ending with his character's lover, Jack Twist,saying, "I wish I knew how to quit you."
"Well, he found out how to quit you," Gibson chortled before launching intoa show that repeatedly referenced the 28-year-old actor's death as if itwere some sort of joke. Among other things, Gibson suggested, laughing thewhole time, that the actor had killed himself because of the stock marketdownturn, the stalled John Edwards campaign or because he was just a"weirdo" with "a serious drug problem."
Never mind that the cause of death has yet to be established. Never mindthat even if it were a drug overdose or a suicide, it would still be atragedy, and not because he was a movie star but because he was a28-year-old human being.
After the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and other groupsdenounced Gibson's behavior, he at first defended it as a joke, explainingthat he had long made fun of the "quit you" line and wasn't about to stopnow. Then Thursday, clearly responding to increased pressure, he issued astatement during Fox News' "The Big Story With John Gibson and HeatherNauert," saying he was sorry if some people were offended by his remarks andalso that he was sorry Ledger had died.
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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120121663246015023.html
Glum Mood Bodes Ill for GOP
Poll Shows Public Is Worried About Jobs and Recession
And Has Little Faith in Bush
By JACKIE CALMES
January 25, 2008; Page A3
Just when it seemed Americans couldn't get any gloomier about the country'sdirection, they have. That finding, from the latest Wall Street Journal/NBCNews poll, could leave Republicans the gloomiest of all, as prospects fortheir party darken further in a presidential-election year.
Amid a weakened economy and market turmoil, President Bush's stock has slidagain as he prepares to deliver his final State of the Union address nextweek, underscoring the burden he could pose for his party's presidentialnominee in the race to November's election.
1. See how support for candidates varies among men and women, urban andrural voters, more.
As for his would-be successors, the Republican candidates remaining in therace have dropped further behind in hypothetical matchups against potentialDemocratic standard-bearers Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The exceptionis Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has revived his still-fragile candidacy andtakes the lead in the contest for the Republican nomination for the firsttime in the poll. (See related article2.) New York Sen. Clinton remainsahead on the Democratic side, though Sen. Obama has cut into heronce-formidable edge. Mr. McCain runs even with both of them in hypotheticalNovember matchups.
The Journal/NBC poll was conducted Sunday through Tuesday, as globalstock-market swoons raised fears of a financial crash, and the FederalReserve intervened with an emergency cut in its short-term interest-ratetarget. As for the political backdrop, the 1,008 adults were interviewedafter news of Saturday's Nevada party caucuses, which Sen. Clinton andRepublican Mitt Romney won, and South Carolina's Republican primary, whereSen. McCain led. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
The poll results confirm that the economy is the top campaign issue for2008, replacing last year's focus on the Iraq war and terrorism. Nearly halfof those polled -- 46% -- say "job creation and economic growth" is theirfirst or second choice for the federal government's top priority. That is 15ercentage points higher than just a month ago, in the previous Journal/NBCpoll. A similar double-digit margin now separates the economic issue fromAmericans' next choices for the country's top priorities -- the Iraq war andhealth care.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/26/mccain_tested_on_economy/
McCain tested on economy
Defends his credibility and experience
By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff | January 26, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - In a race increasingly centered on the economy,Republican candidate John McCain yesterday found himself on the defensiveover his credibility on the subject, claiming a career of experience dealingwith the issue and unique abilities in "leadership, not management."
Those words were aimed at former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, alongtime consultant and venture capitalist, who has emphasized his corporatebackground in recent weeks. For much of last year, Romney downplayed hisbusiness experience while trying to appeal to conservative voters largely onsocial and moral issues.
A Romney ad now airing in Florida highlights his experience in the privatesector. "I know how America works, because I spent my life in the realeconomy," he boasts, in front of the Jacksonville skyline.
"Governor Romney is touting his qualities and his experience and resume as amanager; I am telling the American people - and they know it - that I am aleader," McCain said at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale. McCain waschallenged at the news conference over an answer he gave in a debate theprevious night when asked by moderator Tim Russert if he had said he was"not well versed on" economic issues.
"Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from," McCain replied.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/26/obama_has_south_carolina_lead_mccain_up_in_florida_poll/
Obama leads South Carolina; McCain up in Florida: poll
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent | January 26, 2008
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Barack Obama expanded his lead on rivalHillary Clinton to 15 points heading into South Carolina's bitterlycontested presidential primary, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby pollreleased on Saturday.
Obama, an Illinois senator, gained two points on Clinton overnight to lead41 percent to 26 percent just hours before voting began in Saturday'sprimary. John Edwards was in third place after slipping two points to 19percent.
In Florida, where Republican presidential contenders meet in a criticalprimary on Tuesday, John McCain had a narrow 3-point advantage on rival MittRomney, 31 percent to 28 percent, in the state's initial rolling poll.
The polls in both states had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Obama has led Clinton by double-digits in all four days of polls in SouthCarolina, fueled by a huge advantage among the black voters who are expectedto make up about half of the electorate in the first Democratic primary inthe South.
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5487179.html
Prosecutor launches probe into Detroit mayor scandal
Possible felony case has some wondering if he should just resign
By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press
Jan. 25, 2008, 11:02PM
DETROIT - A prosecutor launched an investigation Friday into allegationsthat Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick lied under oath about an affair with histop aide.
Some political observers are questioning whether the popular yet polarizingfigure should stay on the job.
"Can he? Yes. Should he? That's his call," University of Nevada-Renopolitical science professor Eric Herzik said Friday. "But if you are beingprosecuted, your ability to run the city is incredibly compromised."
Others believe Kilpatrick could fight perjury charges and still fulfill hismayoral duties.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Friday that her office wouldinvestigate reports that Kilpatrick and Chief of Staff Christine Beattyexchanged romantic text messages after they testified in a trial last summerthat they did not have a physical relationship in 2002 and 2003.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012502520.html
Hey, Pollsters: Democrats Care About Religion, Too
By Leah Daughtry
Saturday, January 26, 2008; 12:00 AM
Religion will play an important role in today's South Carolina Democraticprimary, just as it did in last week's South Carolina Republican primary.The difference is that we'll learn less about how religion affects today'svote than we learned about how it influenced last week's contest.
Last week, thanks to exit polls, we understood the religious breakdown, howoften voters attended religious services, whether they considered themselvesborn-again or evangelical Christians, whether they said the candidates'religious beliefs mattered and what they thought about abortion. And thepolls helped to shape the news coverage, so we saw headlines such as:"Evangelical Republicans Drive S.C. Primary" and Ideology, ReligionImportant in "S.C."
If previous exit polls this cycle are any indicator, religion will be muchless central to the exit polls today. At most, Democrats have been askedwhich religion they identify with and how often they go to church. In Iowaand Michigan, Democrats weren't asked about religion at all. And that, inturn, has shaped the news coverage, making it appear that one party has amonopoly on religion in this race.
I'm chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee and CEO of the 2008emocratic Convention. I'm also an ordained Pentecostal minister. So I'vebeen encouraged by the growing attention paid to the role of religion inpolitics as we go about the important task of electing our next president.I've been disappointed, however, with the focus of the discussion so far.
Democrats have been, are and will continue to be people of faith. My ownsupport for the party stems from my sense that it is most emblematic ofgospel values. Democrats believe in equal opportunity for all Americans,that no child should go to bed hungry or go without health care, that weshould be good stewards of the earth, that we shouldn't pass on debt to ourchildren, and that people who work hard should be able to earn a living wageso they can support their families.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Op-Ed Columnist: Questions for the Clintons
By BOB HERBERT
Charleston, S.C.
January 26, 2008
Joseph P. Riley Jr. has been mayor of this historic and often tense citysince the mid-1970s. He's a Democrat, highly respected and has workeddiligently to heal racial wounds that have festered in some cases forhundreds of years.
He has endorsed Barack Obama in today's Democratic primary. But what struckme during an interview in his quiet office in an exquisitely restored CityHall was not the fact of the endorsement, but the manner in which the mayorexpressed it.
He went out of his way to praise the Democratic field, including some of thecandidates who have dropped out, like Senators Joseph Biden and Chris Dodd.He talked about his fondness for Bill and Hillary Clinton and said: "It'stough when you have to choose between friends."
The mayor's thoughtful, respectful, generous assessment of the field echoedthe tone that had prevailed until recently in the Democratic primarycampaign. That welcome tone has been lost, undermined by a deliberateinjection of ugliness, and it would be very difficult to make the case thatthe Clintons have not been primarily to blame.
Bill Clinton, in his over-the-top advocacy of his wife's candidacy, has attimes sounded like a man who's gone off his medication. And some of theClinton surrogates have been flat-out reprehensible.
Andrew Young, for instance.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26sat2.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Behind the Abortion Decline
January 26, 2008
Coinciding with this month's 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's rulingthat legalized abortion, a new study shows that the United States continuesto make progress on reducing the abortion rate. The progress would begreater if more was done to avoid unintended pregnancies.
Between 2000 and 2005, the last year in the study by the GuttmacherInstitute, the number of abortions performed yearly dropped from 1.3 millionto 1.2 million, the fewest since 1974. The proportion of pregnancies endingin abortion also declined significantly.
Abortion opponents like the National Right to Life Committee seized upon thenumbers as vindication for their strategy of demonizing abortion and makingit harder for women to obtain one. Many states now mandate counselingsessions beforehand. But a harder look at the data suggests anotherexplanation.
Almost two-thirds of the decline in the total number of abortions can betraced to eight jurisdictions with few or no abortion restrictions - NewYork, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, Oregon, WashingtonState and the District of Columbia. These are places, notes the GuttmacherInstitute's president, Sharon Camp, that have shown a commitment to real sexeducation, largely departing from the Bush administration's abstinence-onlyapproach. These jurisdictions also help women avoid unintended pregnanciesby making contraception widely available.
The lesson: prevention works. Restrictions on abortion serve mainly to hurtpoor women by postponing abortions until later in pregnancy. While shiftingsocial mores may change some people's behavior, the best practical strategyfor reducing abortions is to focus on helping women avoid unwantedpregnancies.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26wills.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Contributor: Two Presidents Are Worse Than One
By GARRY WILLS
Evanston, Ill.
January 26, 2008
SENATOR Hillary Clinton has based her campaign on experience - 35 years ofit by her count. That must include her eight years in the White House.
Some may debate whether those years count as executive experience. But therecan be no doubt that her husband had the presidential experience, fully. Hehas shown during his wife's campaign that he is a person of initiative andenergy. Does anyone expect him not to use his experience in an energetic wayif he re-enters the White House as the first spouse?
Mrs. Clinton claims that her time in that role was an active one. He canhardly be expected to show less involvement when he returns to the scene ofhis time in power as the resident expert. He is not the kind to be a pottedplant in the White House.
Which raises an important matter. Do we really want a plural presidency?
This is not a new question. It was intensely debated in the convention thatformulated our Constitution. The Virginia Plan for the new documentsubmitted by Edmund Randolph and the New Jersey Plan submitted by WilliamPaterson left open the number of officers to hold the executive power.
more . . . . .
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25fri1.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Primary Choices: Hillary Clinton
January 25, 2008
This generally is the stage of a campaign when Democrats have to work hardto get excited about whichever candidate seems most likely to outlast anuninspiring pack. That is not remotely the case this year.
The early primaries produced two powerful main contenders: Hillary Clinton,the brilliant if at times harsh-sounding senator from New York; and BarackObama, the incandescent if still undefined senator from Illinois. Theremaining long shot, John Edwards, has enlivened the race with his own brandof raw populism.
As Democrats look ahead to the primaries in the biggest states on Feb. 5,The Times's editorial board strongly recommends that they select HillaryClinton as their nominee for the 2008 presidential election.
We have enjoyed hearing Mr. Edwards's fiery oratory, but we cannot supporthis candidacy. The former senator from North Carolina has repudiated so manyof his earlier positions, so many of his Senate votes, that we're not surewhere he stands. We certainly don't buy the notion that he can hold back thetide of globalization.
By choosing Mrs. Clinton, we are not denying Mr. Obama's appeal or hisgifts. The idea of the first African-American nominee of a major party alsois exhilarating, and so is the prospect of the first woman nominee."Firstness" is not a reason to choose. The times that false choice has beenraised, more often by Mrs. Clinton, have tarnished the campaign.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/opinion/25fri2.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Primary Choices: John McCain
January 25, 2008
We have strong disagreements with all the Republicans running for president.The leading candidates have no plan for getting American troops out of Iraq.They are too wedded to discredited economic theories and unwilling even nowto break with the legacy of President Bush. We disagree with them stronglyon what makes a good Supreme Court justice.
Still, there is a choice to be made, and it is an easy one. Senator JohnMcCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bushstyle of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe. With arecord of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation,he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of theRepublican field.
We have shuddered at Mr. McCain's occasional, tactical pander to the rightbecause he has demonstrated that he has the character to stand on principle.He was an early advocate for battling global warming and risked hispresidential bid to uphold fundamental American values in the immigrationdebate. A genuine war hero among Republicans who proclaim their zeal to becommander in chief, Mr. McCain argues passionately that a country'streatment of prisoners in the worst of times says a great deal about itscharacter.
Why, as a New York-based paper, are we not backing Rudolph Giuliani? Why notchoose the man we endorsed for re-election in 1997 after a first term inwhich he showed that a dirty, dangerous, supposedly ungovernable city couldbecome clean, safe and orderly? What about the man who stood fast on Sept.11, when others, including President Bush, went AWOL?
That man is not running for president.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/opinion/24thu1.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Trapped in Gaza
January 24, 2008
The neglect and mistreatment of the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in theGaza Strip is a disgrace, and a very dangerous one. They are pawns in thestruggle among Hamas, which controls Gaza and uses the territory to bombardIsrael daily; its rivals in the Fatah movement that run the PalestinianAuthority and the West Bank; and Israel. If something isn't done quickly toaddress the Gazans' plight, President Bush's Annapolis peace process couldimplode.
It is no wonder that tens of thousands of Palestinians rushed out of Gazainto Egypt on Wednesday after a metal border wall was toppled. Life forGazans, never easy, has been worsening since Hamas seized control lastsummer, and most international aid - except humanitarian assistance - wascut off. Hamas has turned a deaf ear to the Gazans' plight, refusing tonegotiate peace or accept Israel's right to exist.
Life got truly desperate last week when Israel, reacting to a sustained andintense barrage of rocket fire, blockaded Gaza and stopped all shipmentsexcept emergency supplies. When the border wall was breached on Wednesday,Gazans went on a buying spree in Egypt, stocking up on fuel, medicine, soap,cigarettes, cement, chickens and goats.
We are deeply concerned about the many innocent Israelis who live along theborder with Gaza and must suffer through the constant bombardment. ButIsrael's response - shutting off power and other essential supplies - is acollective punishment that will only feed anger and extremism.
Mr. Bush has said that he is committed to negotiating a peace deal betweenthe Israelis and the Palestinians before he leaves office next year.
Allowing Gaza to fester or to erupt into an all-out military confrontationis the surest way to bury that dream.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/world/26abroad.html
U.S. Race Captures World's Eye, and Holds It
By ALAN COWELL
January 26, 2008
DAVOS, Switzerland - To look at the reams of coverage in newspapers outsidethe United States or to follow the hours of television news broadcasts, youmight conclude that foreigners had a vote in selecting an Americanpresidential candidate - or, at least, deserved one, so great is America'sinfluence on their lives.
From Berlin to London to Jakarta, the destinies of Democratic and Republican contenders in Iowa or New Hampshire, or Nevada or South Carolina, havebecome news in a way that most political commentators cannot recall. It isas if outsiders are pining for change in America as much as some Americanpresidential candidates are promising it.
The personalities of the Democratic contest in particular - the potentialharbinger of America's first African-American or female president - havefascinated outsiders as much as, if not more than, the candidates' policieson Iraq, immigration or global finances.
And there is a palpable sense that, while democratic systems seem clunky nduninspiring to voters in many parts of the Western world, America offers potential model for reinvigoration.
"It is in many ways an uplifting sight to see a great democracy functioningat that most basic of levels," said Lord McNally, the leader of the smallopposition Liberal Democrats in Britain's House of Lords. "Even with all themoney, the publicity, the power of television, the person who wants to bethe most powerful man or woman in the world still has to get down and talkin small town halls and stop people on the street and stand on soapboxes."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012601018.html?hpid=topnews
Democrats Begin Voting in S. Carolina
Obama Leads, but Polls Show a Racial Divide
By Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 26, 2008; 8:59 AM
CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 26 -- Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clintonraced through a final day of campaigning Friday before Saturday's SouthCarolina Democratic primary, after a week of angry bickering and with theelectorate here polarized along racial lines.
Obama looked to Saturday's vote in the first Southern presidential contestof the 2008 nomination season to rebound after disappointing losses toClinton in New Hampshire and Nevada, which followed his win in Iowa at thebeginning of the month.
Voting here will be open until 7 p.m.
Late polls showed Obama (Ill.) leading Clinton (N.Y.) and former senatorJohn Edwards (N.C.), and veterans of Democratic campaigns in the statereported that Obama has the superior organization. A defeat here wouldrepresent a major setback for Obama heading into Feb. 5, when more than halfof the pledged delegates to the national convention are at stake in tests in22 states.
The recent focus on race has stirred considerable angst in Obama's innercircle, and as the primary campaign came to a close here, his effort took ona hurried quality, as though the candidate were eager to move past thecontroversies and arguments of the week.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012503500.html?hpid=topnews
Shanghai's Middle Class Launches Quiet, Meticulous Revolt
By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, January 26, 2008; A01
SHANGHAI -- Bundled against the cold, the businessman made his way down thesteps. Coming toward him in blue mittens was a middle-aged woman.
"Do you know that we're going to take a stroll this weekend?" she whispered,using the latest euphemism for the unofficial protests that have unnervedauthorities in Shanghai over the past month.
He nodded.
Behind her, protest banners streamed from the windows of high-rise apartmentblocks, signs of middle-class discontent over a planned extension of thecity's magnetic levitation, or maglev, train through residentialneighborhoods.
The couple checked to make sure no plainclothes police were nearby anddiscussed where security forces had been posted in recent days. "Did youtake any photos?" the man asked. Yes, she said, promising to send them tohim so he could post the evidence online.
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FLORIDA DIGEST January 26, 2008
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbnaugle0126sbjan26,0,991422,print.story
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, the Rev. O'Neal Dozier show support forMike Huckabee
By Anthony Man
Political Writer
January 26, 2008
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared Friday with two of BrowardCounty's most controversial political figures, Fort Lauderdale Mayor JimNaugle and the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, as he attempts to lift his standing amongRepublican voters.
The ordained Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor's newest backeris Naugle, a Democrat - which means he can't vote for Huckabee in Tuesday'sprimary - who often endorses Republicans.
The mayor generated national attention last year over an automated restroomon the beach. Naugle said one reason he wanted the self-cleaning toilet onFort Lauderdale beach was his belief that it would help cut down on sexualactivity in public restrooms. He maintained his stance even after the PoliceDepartment said it didn't have arrest records indicating a problem.
Naugle went on to say that gays frequent public restrooms to have sex andthat he would only use the term homosexual because many gays were unhappy.His comments sparked rounds of protests and counterprotests for and againstNaugle.
Huckabee said he was familiar with Naugle's version of events. "I appreciatethe mayor, and I appreciate his stand for wanting to have a community whereevery person could feel welcome and feel comfortable," Huckabee said.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbdrag0125sbjan26,0,7853189,print.story
Charter school principal prepares to deploy to Iraq for 1 year
By Akilah Johnson
January 26, 2008
The principal walked into the first classroom at 8:45 a.m. He decided tostart with the sixth-graders and work his way down to the kindergartners.
Each time he stepped through the white doors decorated with red and bluestars, John Drag Jr., 45, suppressed his fears. On Monday, he'll leave hiswife and three children for a year and go to war.
The couple told their children last week. Thursday and Friday were Drag'stime to reassure his other children, all 250 at Broward Community CharterSchool West in Coral Springs, that he'd be all right. His mission in Iraq isrelatively safe.
"Because I'm a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, I'll be running a camp.I'll be right outside Baghdad International Airport," he explained. "I'llkind of be like a principal, but the kids will be a lot bigger."
Then he drew a rough sketch of Iraq on the board, marked the capital with astar and continued: "The best thing that you can do for me is study hard, dogood in school and not worry about me."
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Equality Florida Urges Legislators NOT to Support Gay Rights Bill
Express Gay News
GLBT groups clash over state anti-bias bills
Disagreement over transgender inclusion mirrors federal fight
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Gay political organizations are clashing over the best way to passGLBT-friendly anti-discrimination bills through the Florida Legislature. Thehead butting is taking on strategic tones similar to those that emerged lastyear in the fight over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S.Congress.
Gay rights organizations are taking different stances on whether to supporta two-pronged effort that sends separate anti-discrimination bills throughthe Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. If passed,House Bill 191 sponsored by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) would banemployment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation as well asgender identity and gender expression. Senate Bill 572, introduced by TedDeutch (D-Delray Beach), bans discrimination based on sexual orientationonly. Both bills are expected to go before the Florida Legislature duringthe spring session, which begins March 4.
There is little expectation that either bill will be successful in theconservative-dominated legislature. Last year, a similar bill that onlyincluded sexual orientation protections was not even read. Groups such asEquality Florida and the Palm Beach Human Rights Council have been active inseeking political support for the Skidmore bill. Equality Florida, however,a statewide GLBT political organization, has been lobbying legislators notto support the non-inclusive Senate bill.
"Our position is that we will not support a bill that leaves a portion ofour community behind," said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of EqualityFlorida. "We believe in a fully inclusive bill."
Pollitzer characterized the current Senate bill as "bad policy," and saidthat Equality is seeking either to find a state senator who will sponsor anentirely new inclusive bill or to convince Deutch to expand his bill toinclude gender identity and expression.
In September, Pollitzer told the Express that the organization would notwork against measures that do not include gender identity and expression andthat the group would work to make any proposed bills as inclusive aspossible.
When reminded of his comments, he said that he had had been misquoted. Atthe time, neither Pollitzer nor anyone from Equality Florida, however,contacted the Express for a correction.
Over the past few months, Equality Florida strategists have been meetingwith Senate legislative aides to tell them not to sponsor the legislation.Staying on message, Pollitzer said, the group urges senators not to supportthe Deutch bill.
At least two senators, Charlie Justice (D-St. Petersburg) and Steven Geller(D-Hallandale) confirmed that members of their staffs met with EqualityFlorida in recent weeks to discuss sponsoring the Senate bill.
"As I recall, there was an argument between different groups in the GLBTcommunity as to whether it was supported by the community," said Geller."If, in fact, it is controversial in the GLBT community, as a general rule,I would be less inclined to[co-sponsor] it."
Geller, the Florida Senate minority leader, noted that he rarely co-sponsorsbills. Justice said he consulted with his staff about sponsoring the Deutchbill, but has yet to make a decision.
"I have not decided not to co-sponsor it," he said.
Justice said he is weighing reports from both sides of the argument. He saidthat he would decide based on the merits of the legislation itself, ratherthat wait for a unified endorsement from gay organizations.
Both Geller and Justice have strong backing among gay voters. They said theyare supportive of the bills.
Last year, gay rights supporters split on whether to back the federalEmployment Nondiscrimination Act without gender identity protections. Morethan 300 organizations came together as a coalition called United ENDA thatopposed the bill without transgender protections. A few groups, such as theHuman Rights Campaign, supported ENDA in order to win sexual orientationprotections.
In the end, the U.S. House of Representatives passed ENDA without the genderidentity protections.
Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, saidEquality Florida is sending the wrong message at a time when the backers ofthe bills are seeking to get sponsors from both sides of the aisle. Hochsupports the Deutch bill without the transgender protections. He said thetwo bills complement each other, and the goal is to get them throughcommittees to create a discussion about sexual orientation and genderidentity issues.
"I'm livid," Hoch said. "This is totally unacceptable conduct."
Hoch said he will continue to lobby lawmakers for support. Last week, henoted, the ACLU's gay and lesbian advocacy project decided to join Hoch insupporting the Skidmore bill regardless of Equality Florida's advice.
The ACLU will include the bill as one of its priority issues in the 2008session.
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National Gay News
Out of the Closet Thrift Store
Opening Saturday in Wilton Manors
THIS SATURDAY!
You Are Cordially Invited to the Grand Opening of the Out of the ClosetThrift Store and AHF Pharmacy. Saturday, January 26th, 2008 10:00 AM OpeningCeremony 2097 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
Out of the Closet, the world's most fabulous thrift store, is a chain ofthrift stores in Northern and Southern California and now opening in BrowardCounty Wilton Manors are owned and operated by AIDS Healthcare Foundation(AHF), the largest specialized provider of cutting-edge medicine andadvocacy regardless of ability to pay.
Out of the Closet Thrift Stores generate income that helps fund the medicalservices AHF provides. In addition to regular retail operations, fourlocations including our Florida location offer free HIV testing andcounseling in a private area of the store. Out of the Closet thrift Storesgenerate 30,000 donations andnearly 1 million shoppers a year.
AHF Pharmacy is a non-for-profit pharmacy in which 96% of the profitssupport AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Domestic and Global HIV/AIDS preventionand treatment programs.
Councilman Galvin has served on the AHF Board of Directors since 2007.
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From Victoria Lavelle
I want to personally thank everyone who assisted with my sensitive matterconcerning a routine traffic stop by a police officer with the Wilton ManorsPolice Department. I had a personal meeting yesterday with the Chief OfPolice, Mr. Richard Perez, and I'd like to commend Chief Perez for taking mymatter very seriously. We came to a peaceful resolution, Chief Perez hascommitted to the development of a GLBT diversity training curriculum for theWilton Manors Police Department and has also committed to participate in aneducational forum for the GLBT Community.
I'd like to extend my thanks to Michael Rajner, Transgender Equality RightsInitiative, EQUALITY Florida, The GLCC of South Florida, The BHRI, VictorZepka, and the many other amazing GLBT Broward Organizations for theirsupport in this matter. I extend my gratitude and heartfelt thanks toCommissioner Joe Angelo, Mr. Richard Wiley (Captain of Administration forthe Wilton Manors Police Department), and the Chief of Police, Mr. RichardPerez of the Wilton Manors Police Department.
As your reigning Miss Florida FI 2008 my hopes are that this issuereinforces the strength of the GLBT Community and their commitment forequality for transgendered individuals. We have a strong voice for thetransgender community in South Florida and I encourage all transgenders andtheir friends to join in this journey for the greater of equality.
Sincerely Expressed
Victoria Michaels Lavelle
MISS FLORIDA FI 2008
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Volunteers Needed on Election Day January 29th 2008 7am-7pm to gathercandidate petitions for Mark LaFontaine, candidate for Florida State Housedistrict 92.
You do not have to live in District 92 to volunteer for Mark.
Please help us elect the First accountant and first OUT GLBT State Rep.
Please Call the Volunteer Hot Line 954-651-3147
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The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council
Federal Political Action Committee Endorses Rudy Giuliani
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Federal Political ActionCommittee has endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Florida'sJanuary 29, 2008 Republican Presidential Preference Primary.
While the PAC recognizes that none of the Republican Presidential candidatesare as supportive of GLBT issues as their Democratic counterparts,Giuliani's record places him well above the other Republican Presidentialcandidates.
During his tenure as Mayor (1994 - 2001), Giuliani:
* signed into law a domestic partnership ordinance that, at the time, wasamong the most comprehensive domestic partnerships laws in the nation;
* established and funded a Hate Crimes Task Force that allowed the city tofully investigate and prosecute hate crimes;
* budgeted $1.5 million for New York City's GLBT Community Center'scapital campaign;
* appointed openly gay men and lesbians to high-level positions within hisadministration;
* participated in the annual New York City Pride Parade and held annualPride celebrations at the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion; and* urged President Bush to include domestic partners and committed same-sexlife partners in the September 11 federal victims' compensation fund.
In addition, Giuliani was one of the first Republican elected officials inNew York State to publicly support both federal and the New York State hatecrimes egislation. He was also one of the first Republican electedofficials in New York to support statewide legislation to prohibitdiscrimination based on sexual orientation.
As a Presidential candidate, Giuliani has spoken out in favor of theEmployment Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit employmentdiscrimination based on sexual orientation nationwide. (However, it isunclear if he supports including gender identity).
Giuliani opposes amending the U. S. Constitution to limit marriages to thosebetween one man and one woman only and supports federal domestic partnershiplegislation which would provide basic legal protections for ourrelationships.
However, as more conservative Republican Presidential candidates have gainedsupport over the past several weeks, Giuliani has begun to downplay hisearlier accomplishments on behalf of the GLBT community.
If you are registered to vote in the Republican Presidential Primary, thePalm Beach County Human Rights Council Federal Political Action Committeerecommends Giuliani
more....
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/business/epaper/2008/01/26/m1a_econsqueeze_0126.html
Plenty of Floridians believe state's in a recession
By JEFF OSTROWSKI
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Once sizzling, now fizzling, the economy in Palm Beach County and theTreasure Coast is suffering one of its steepest declines in years.
While there's no officially accepted definition of a recession for statesand regions, for some, the sense of whether the economy is in a recessionstarts at home.
"Everybody's being affected by this economy," said Mildred Davila, 34, amedical assistant who lives in Boynton Beach. "People don't want to spendmoney."
Local businesses and consumers are padlocking their pocketbooks, said Gretavon Unruh, executive director of the Economic Development ResearchInstitute, a nonprofit think tank in West Palm Beach. "We are clearly in asevere downturn."
As for recession, "Is there any doubt?" asked Paul Emmet, founder of Duffy'sRestaurants Inc. That's not to say the chain is doing poorly. Just theopposite, said Emmet, who is not making cutbacks and is, in fact, makingcapital investments, such as new TVs in the sports bars. But double-digitgrowth driven by housing sales has slackened, and established competitorssuch as RJ Gators have fallen by the wayside.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/394279.html
Black Democrats struggle between Clinton, Obama
BY AUDRA D.S. BURCH
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
At 9 a.m. Friday, after the two children had left for school, Guylene Berryhoped to decide in the quiet of her Miami Lakes home. She had tried before,given Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama time and energy, pondering thepromises, but the choice hadn't gotten any easier.
Host of Koze Fanm, a Haitian radio program, Berry changed her mind in thecar on her way to vote early. And again when she stood in line.
''I voted for Hillary Clinton today. I am a single mother, so her views onemployment, universal healthcare and the housing crisis appealed to me. Butthis was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,'' says Berry, 35,who cast a vote for the first time on Friday. ``On the one hand, I wanted tovote for a black American, a man who would give my children hope. On theother, women's issues are close to my heart.''
That conversation has played out among black voters in churches andchatrooms, among families, friends and sometimes even among strangers asClinton and Obama emerged as front-runners for the Democratic presidentialnomination.
Even the four board members of the Florida Courier, a small Florida weekly,were debating who was the most promising candidate for the national blackagenda.
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5487294.html
Campaign notebook: Clinton wants to restore all of Florida's delegates
From wire reports
Jan. 25, 2008, 11:01PM
WASHINGTON - In a bit of political theater, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton andthe Florida Democratic Party clamored to restore convention delegates thathad been stripped by the national party.
At stake: 185 delegates in a state where Clinton leads almost 2-to-1.
The presidential candidate said Friday - just four days before Florida'sprimary - that she wants the convention delegates from Florida and Michiganreinstated. The national party eliminated all the delegates from thosestates - more than 350 in all - because they broke party rules againstholding their primaries before Feb. 5. All the major Democratic candidatesalso made pledges not to campaign in those states before their primaries.
Clinton could claim most of the Michigan delegates because she won thatstate's primary after the other major candidates pulled their names from theballot.
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager accused Clinton of pandering.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-split26jan26,1,5343195.story?track=crosspromo
Florida's midsection key to GOP hopefuls
The fast-growing central part of the state is known to be more ideologicallydiverse and less predictable.
By Seema Mehta
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 26, 2008
LAKELAND, FLA. - Linda Ivell is an ardent supporter of President Bush, leadsthe state Republican women's club and has met all of the major GOPpresidential candidates. Yet the effervescent 53-year-old real estate agent,who lives in this former citrus and phosphate mining hub in central Florida,simply can't make up her mind about whom to vote for Tuesday in Florida'scrucial presidential primary.
"I honestly don't know," said Ivell, who is torn by the candidates' appealsas conservatives on economic, national security and social issues.
"The thing I want most," she said, "is someone who will speak the truth."
Undecided Republicans like Ivell living near Interstate 4, the east-westcorridor that divides the Sunshine State, could tip the scales Tuesday. Andthey are being heavily wooed by the leading candidates.
Compared with other parts of the state, GOP voters in the cities and suburbsalong the I-4, a 132-mile stretch of highway that links Daytona Beach andTampa, are more ideologically diverse and less predictable. They are ahodgepodge of the factions -- business people, retirees from the Northeastand the Midwest, military veterans and social conservatives -- thatPresident Reagan united under the conservative banner in the 1980s.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/394283.html
Crist blitz could save tax amendment
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
Voter support for the property-tax-cut amendment falls short of the victorymargin in a new Miami Herald poll, but undecided voters, a weekend ad blitzby the governor and a large turnout of Republicans could send it over thetop.
''The property-tax amendment appears headed to victory,'' said Tom Eldon,pollster for Schroth, Eldon & Associates, which conducted the statewidesurvey of 800 likely primary voters. ``The continuing television campaignfeaturing Charlie Crist and the lack of a visible opposition campaign couldmake a difference.''
As a constitutional amendment, the measure needs 60 percent voter approvalto pass. The poll showed that 55 percent support Amendment 1, while 30percent oppose it. Another 14 percent are undecided, and that group isevenly split between Democrats and Republicans.
The three main features of the proposal, placed on the ballot by theLegislature in October, would increase the homestead exemption, givehomeowners the ability to transfer their tax savings to a new home and givenew tax breaks to businesses and nonhomestead property.
The governor has raised more than $3 million from real estate agents,Florida Power & Light and other business groups to promote the amendmentthrough TV ads, mail brochures and automated phone calls. He will devote theweekend to campaigning for the measure and getting the vote out around thestate.
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St. Petersburg Times
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_PRIMARY_PROPERTY_TAX_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME
Tax-cutting amendment first to face 60 percent requirement
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- If it took only a simple majority to passAmendment 1, the property tax-cutting proposal on Tuesday's ballot, itsbackers would be more confident of victory.
But in 2006, at the urging of Legislative leaders and business interests,voters adopted a measure that made it harder to amend the FloridaConstitution by requiring 60 percent approval at the ballot box. Thatamendment won with 58 percent - good enough under the constitution's oldsimple-majority requirement.
Now those same legislators and business groups are pushing the tax-cutmeasure and it may be the first victim of the 60 percent threshold. A recentpoll by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Florida Times-Union showedthe amendment winning 45 percent to 34 percent among likely voters, with 21percent undecided.
"There's a certain irony in politics, and this is a classic example of it,"said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.
He sponsored the 60 percent requirement in the Republican-controlledLegislature and now he's supporting Amendment 1.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/394537.html
Property tax amendment facts and figures
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
Facts and figures on Amendment 1, a property tax relief proposal on the Jan.29 presidential primary ballot:
Taxpayer Effect
- Homestead exemption: Increases from present $25,000 to $50,000 for primaryhomes valued at $50,000 and more except for school taxes. Average savings:$240 per year.
- Portability: Allows primary homeowners to take their accrued Save OurHomes benefits - a 3 percent annual cap on assessment increases - with themwhen they move up to $500,000 in property value. Savings: Only homeownerswho moved in 2007 and subsequent years would save and amounts would varydepending on the values of their new and old homes.
- Tangible Personal Property: Exempts the first $25,000 in value.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/418/story/394598.html
Dave Barry: Miss Kumquat gets our vote
BY DAVE BARRY
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
On Tuesday, millions of Florida voters will head for the polls. BeingFloridians, many of them will become confused and drive into buildings,canals, cemeteries, other Floridians, etc. But some will actually make it tothe polls, where they will cast ballots that will play a crucial role in thepresidential election. Or, in the case of Democrats, not.
It turns out that the 2008 Florida Democratic primary doesn't count. Floridawill be sending the same number of delegates to the 2008 Democraticconvention as Uzbekistan. This may seem unfair, but there's a simple,logical explanation: The whole primary system is insane. Consider theprocess so far:
First, Iowa held ''caucuses,'' in which Iowans gathered in small groups atnight and engaged in some mysterious Iowan ritual that for all we knowinvolves having intimate relations with corn. Right after that, Wyoming hada primary, but it was only for Republicans, because Wyoming Democrats(apparently, there are at least two) will hold their primary on March 8.Most of the candidates ignored Wyoming and focused on the New Hampshireprimary, except Rudy Giuliani, who's following a shrewd strategy, originallydeveloped by the Miami Dolphins, of not entering the race until he has beenmathematically eliminated. After New Hampshire came Michigan, where theballot listed all the Republicans, but only certain Democrats -- includingChris Dodd, who had already dropped out if the race -- but not includingBarack Obama or John Edwards.
After Michigan came the Nevada caucuses, in which Hillary Clinton got morevotes but Barack Obama got more delegates. (If you don't understand how thatcould happen, then you have never been to a casino.) Then came the SouthCarolina Republican primary, which of course was not held on the same day asthe South Carolina Democratic primary, which was Saturday. Then comesFlorida, in which Republican voters will elect some delegates, although thetotal will only be half the number Florida was originally supposed to get.Meanwhile, Florida Democrats, as I mentioned, will have the same impact ontheir party's nomination as if they fed their ballots to ducks.
I am not making any of this up: This is our actual primary system, except (Ihope) the part about the corn. We're selecting candidates for the mostimportant job in the world via a process that's less rational than the oneused to choose Miss Kumquat of Pasco County.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbnaugle0126sbjan26,0,991422,print.story
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, the Rev. O'Neal Dozier show support forMike Huckabee
By Anthony Man
Political Writer
January 26, 2008
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared Friday with two of BrowardCounty's most controversial political figures, Fort Lauderdale Mayor JimNaugle and the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, as he attempts to lift his standing amongRepublican voters.
The ordained Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor's newest backeris Naugle, a Democrat - which means he can't vote for Huckabee in Tuesday'sprimary - who often endorses Republicans.
The mayor generated national attention last year over an automated restroomon the beach. Naugle said one reason he wanted the self-cleaning toilet onFort Lauderdale beach was his belief that it would help cut down on sexualactivity in public restrooms. He maintained his stance even after the PoliceDepartment said it didn't have arrest records indicating a problem.
Naugle went on to say that gays frequent public restrooms to have sex andthat he would only use the term homosexual because many gays were unhappy.His comments sparked rounds of protests and counterprotests for and againstNaugle.
Huckabee said he was familiar with Naugle's version of events. "I appreciatethe mayor, and I appreciate his stand for wanting to have a community whereevery person could feel welcome and feel comfortable," Huckabee said.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbdrag0125sbjan26,0,7853189,print.story
Charter school principal prepares to deploy to Iraq for 1 year
By Akilah Johnson
January 26, 2008
The principal walked into the first classroom at 8:45 a.m. He decided tostart with the sixth-graders and work his way down to the kindergartners.
Each time he stepped through the white doors decorated with red and bluestars, John Drag Jr., 45, suppressed his fears. On Monday, he'll leave hiswife and three children for a year and go to war.
The couple told their children last week. Thursday and Friday were Drag'stime to reassure his other children, all 250 at Broward Community CharterSchool West in Coral Springs, that he'd be all right. His mission in Iraq isrelatively safe.
"Because I'm a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, I'll be running a camp.I'll be right outside Baghdad International Airport," he explained. "I'llkind of be like a principal, but the kids will be a lot bigger."
Then he drew a rough sketch of Iraq on the board, marked the capital with astar and continued: "The best thing that you can do for me is study hard, dogood in school and not worry about me."
more . . . . .
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Equality Florida Urges Legislators NOT to Support Gay Rights Bill
Express Gay News
GLBT groups clash over state anti-bias bills
Disagreement over transgender inclusion mirrors federal fight
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Gay political organizations are clashing over the best way to passGLBT-friendly anti-discrimination bills through the Florida Legislature. Thehead butting is taking on strategic tones similar to those that emerged lastyear in the fight over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S.Congress.
Gay rights organizations are taking different stances on whether to supporta two-pronged effort that sends separate anti-discrimination bills throughthe Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. If passed,House Bill 191 sponsored by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) would banemployment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation as well asgender identity and gender expression. Senate Bill 572, introduced by TedDeutch (D-Delray Beach), bans discrimination based on sexual orientationonly. Both bills are expected to go before the Florida Legislature duringthe spring session, which begins March 4.
There is little expectation that either bill will be successful in theconservative-dominated legislature. Last year, a similar bill that onlyincluded sexual orientation protections was not even read. Groups such asEquality Florida and the Palm Beach Human Rights Council have been active inseeking political support for the Skidmore bill. Equality Florida, however,a statewide GLBT political organization, has been lobbying legislators notto support the non-inclusive Senate bill.
"Our position is that we will not support a bill that leaves a portion ofour community behind," said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of EqualityFlorida. "We believe in a fully inclusive bill."
Pollitzer characterized the current Senate bill as "bad policy," and saidthat Equality is seeking either to find a state senator who will sponsor anentirely new inclusive bill or to convince Deutch to expand his bill toinclude gender identity and expression.
In September, Pollitzer told the Express that the organization would notwork against measures that do not include gender identity and expression andthat the group would work to make any proposed bills as inclusive aspossible.
When reminded of his comments, he said that he had had been misquoted. Atthe time, neither Pollitzer nor anyone from Equality Florida, however,contacted the Express for a correction.
Over the past few months, Equality Florida strategists have been meetingwith Senate legislative aides to tell them not to sponsor the legislation.Staying on message, Pollitzer said, the group urges senators not to supportthe Deutch bill.
At least two senators, Charlie Justice (D-St. Petersburg) and Steven Geller(D-Hallandale) confirmed that members of their staffs met with EqualityFlorida in recent weeks to discuss sponsoring the Senate bill.
"As I recall, there was an argument between different groups in the GLBTcommunity as to whether it was supported by the community," said Geller."If, in fact, it is controversial in the GLBT community, as a general rule,I would be less inclined to[co-sponsor] it."
Geller, the Florida Senate minority leader, noted that he rarely co-sponsorsbills. Justice said he consulted with his staff about sponsoring the Deutchbill, but has yet to make a decision.
"I have not decided not to co-sponsor it," he said.
Justice said he is weighing reports from both sides of the argument. He saidthat he would decide based on the merits of the legislation itself, ratherthat wait for a unified endorsement from gay organizations.
Both Geller and Justice have strong backing among gay voters. They said theyare supportive of the bills.
Last year, gay rights supporters split on whether to back the federalEmployment Nondiscrimination Act without gender identity protections. Morethan 300 organizations came together as a coalition called United ENDA thatopposed the bill without transgender protections. A few groups, such as theHuman Rights Campaign, supported ENDA in order to win sexual orientationprotections.
In the end, the U.S. House of Representatives passed ENDA without the genderidentity protections.
Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, saidEquality Florida is sending the wrong message at a time when the backers ofthe bills are seeking to get sponsors from both sides of the aisle. Hochsupports the Deutch bill without the transgender protections. He said thetwo bills complement each other, and the goal is to get them throughcommittees to create a discussion about sexual orientation and genderidentity issues.
"I'm livid," Hoch said. "This is totally unacceptable conduct."
Hoch said he will continue to lobby lawmakers for support. Last week, henoted, the ACLU's gay and lesbian advocacy project decided to join Hoch insupporting the Skidmore bill regardless of Equality Florida's advice.
The ACLU will include the bill as one of its priority issues in the 2008session.
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National Gay News
Out of the Closet Thrift Store
Opening Saturday in Wilton Manors
THIS SATURDAY!
You Are Cordially Invited to the Grand Opening of the Out of the ClosetThrift Store and AHF Pharmacy. Saturday, January 26th, 2008 10:00 AM OpeningCeremony 2097 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
Out of the Closet, the world's most fabulous thrift store, is a chain ofthrift stores in Northern and Southern California and now opening in BrowardCounty Wilton Manors are owned and operated by AIDS Healthcare Foundation(AHF), the largest specialized provider of cutting-edge medicine andadvocacy regardless of ability to pay.
Out of the Closet Thrift Stores generate income that helps fund the medicalservices AHF provides. In addition to regular retail operations, fourlocations including our Florida location offer free HIV testing andcounseling in a private area of the store. Out of the Closet thrift Storesgenerate 30,000 donations andnearly 1 million shoppers a year.
AHF Pharmacy is a non-for-profit pharmacy in which 96% of the profitssupport AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Domestic and Global HIV/AIDS preventionand treatment programs.
Councilman Galvin has served on the AHF Board of Directors since 2007.
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From Victoria Lavelle
I want to personally thank everyone who assisted with my sensitive matterconcerning a routine traffic stop by a police officer with the Wilton ManorsPolice Department. I had a personal meeting yesterday with the Chief OfPolice, Mr. Richard Perez, and I'd like to commend Chief Perez for taking mymatter very seriously. We came to a peaceful resolution, Chief Perez hascommitted to the development of a GLBT diversity training curriculum for theWilton Manors Police Department and has also committed to participate in aneducational forum for the GLBT Community.
I'd like to extend my thanks to Michael Rajner, Transgender Equality RightsInitiative, EQUALITY Florida, The GLCC of South Florida, The BHRI, VictorZepka, and the many other amazing GLBT Broward Organizations for theirsupport in this matter. I extend my gratitude and heartfelt thanks toCommissioner Joe Angelo, Mr. Richard Wiley (Captain of Administration forthe Wilton Manors Police Department), and the Chief of Police, Mr. RichardPerez of the Wilton Manors Police Department.
As your reigning Miss Florida FI 2008 my hopes are that this issuereinforces the strength of the GLBT Community and their commitment forequality for transgendered individuals. We have a strong voice for thetransgender community in South Florida and I encourage all transgenders andtheir friends to join in this journey for the greater of equality.
Sincerely Expressed
Victoria Michaels Lavelle
MISS FLORIDA FI 2008
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Volunteers Needed on Election Day January 29th 2008 7am-7pm to gathercandidate petitions for Mark LaFontaine, candidate for Florida State Housedistrict 92.
You do not have to live in District 92 to volunteer for Mark.
Please help us elect the First accountant and first OUT GLBT State Rep.
Please Call the Volunteer Hot Line 954-651-3147
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The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council
Federal Political Action Committee Endorses Rudy Giuliani
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Federal Political ActionCommittee has endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Florida'sJanuary 29, 2008 Republican Presidential Preference Primary.
While the PAC recognizes that none of the Republican Presidential candidatesare as supportive of GLBT issues as their Democratic counterparts,Giuliani's record places him well above the other Republican Presidentialcandidates.
During his tenure as Mayor (1994 - 2001), Giuliani:
* signed into law a domestic partnership ordinance that, at the time, wasamong the most comprehensive domestic partnerships laws in the nation;
* established and funded a Hate Crimes Task Force that allowed the city tofully investigate and prosecute hate crimes;
* budgeted $1.5 million for New York City's GLBT Community Center'scapital campaign;
* appointed openly gay men and lesbians to high-level positions within hisadministration;
* participated in the annual New York City Pride Parade and held annualPride celebrations at the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion; and* urged President Bush to include domestic partners and committed same-sexlife partners in the September 11 federal victims' compensation fund.
In addition, Giuliani was one of the first Republican elected officials inNew York State to publicly support both federal and the New York State hatecrimes egislation. He was also one of the first Republican electedofficials in New York to support statewide legislation to prohibitdiscrimination based on sexual orientation.
As a Presidential candidate, Giuliani has spoken out in favor of theEmployment Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit employmentdiscrimination based on sexual orientation nationwide. (However, it isunclear if he supports including gender identity).
Giuliani opposes amending the U. S. Constitution to limit marriages to thosebetween one man and one woman only and supports federal domestic partnershiplegislation which would provide basic legal protections for ourrelationships.
However, as more conservative Republican Presidential candidates have gainedsupport over the past several weeks, Giuliani has begun to downplay hisearlier accomplishments on behalf of the GLBT community.
If you are registered to vote in the Republican Presidential Primary, thePalm Beach County Human Rights Council Federal Political Action Committeerecommends Giuliani
more....
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/business/epaper/2008/01/26/m1a_econsqueeze_0126.html
Plenty of Floridians believe state's in a recession
By JEFF OSTROWSKI
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Once sizzling, now fizzling, the economy in Palm Beach County and theTreasure Coast is suffering one of its steepest declines in years.
While there's no officially accepted definition of a recession for statesand regions, for some, the sense of whether the economy is in a recessionstarts at home.
"Everybody's being affected by this economy," said Mildred Davila, 34, amedical assistant who lives in Boynton Beach. "People don't want to spendmoney."
Local businesses and consumers are padlocking their pocketbooks, said Gretavon Unruh, executive director of the Economic Development ResearchInstitute, a nonprofit think tank in West Palm Beach. "We are clearly in asevere downturn."
As for recession, "Is there any doubt?" asked Paul Emmet, founder of Duffy'sRestaurants Inc. That's not to say the chain is doing poorly. Just theopposite, said Emmet, who is not making cutbacks and is, in fact, makingcapital investments, such as new TVs in the sports bars. But double-digitgrowth driven by housing sales has slackened, and established competitorssuch as RJ Gators have fallen by the wayside.
more . . . . .
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/394279.html
Black Democrats struggle between Clinton, Obama
BY AUDRA D.S. BURCH
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
At 9 a.m. Friday, after the two children had left for school, Guylene Berryhoped to decide in the quiet of her Miami Lakes home. She had tried before,given Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama time and energy, pondering thepromises, but the choice hadn't gotten any easier.
Host of Koze Fanm, a Haitian radio program, Berry changed her mind in thecar on her way to vote early. And again when she stood in line.
''I voted for Hillary Clinton today. I am a single mother, so her views onemployment, universal healthcare and the housing crisis appealed to me. Butthis was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,'' says Berry, 35,who cast a vote for the first time on Friday. ``On the one hand, I wanted tovote for a black American, a man who would give my children hope. On theother, women's issues are close to my heart.''
That conversation has played out among black voters in churches andchatrooms, among families, friends and sometimes even among strangers asClinton and Obama emerged as front-runners for the Democratic presidentialnomination.
Even the four board members of the Florida Courier, a small Florida weekly,were debating who was the most promising candidate for the national blackagenda.
more . . . . .
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5487294.html
Campaign notebook: Clinton wants to restore all of Florida's delegates
From wire reports
Jan. 25, 2008, 11:01PM
WASHINGTON - In a bit of political theater, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton andthe Florida Democratic Party clamored to restore convention delegates thathad been stripped by the national party.
At stake: 185 delegates in a state where Clinton leads almost 2-to-1.
The presidential candidate said Friday - just four days before Florida'sprimary - that she wants the convention delegates from Florida and Michiganreinstated. The national party eliminated all the delegates from thosestates - more than 350 in all - because they broke party rules againstholding their primaries before Feb. 5. All the major Democratic candidatesalso made pledges not to campaign in those states before their primaries.
Clinton could claim most of the Michigan delegates because she won thatstate's primary after the other major candidates pulled their names from theballot.
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager accused Clinton of pandering.
more . . . . .
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-split26jan26,1,5343195.story?track=crosspromo
Florida's midsection key to GOP hopefuls
The fast-growing central part of the state is known to be more ideologicallydiverse and less predictable.
By Seema Mehta
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 26, 2008
LAKELAND, FLA. - Linda Ivell is an ardent supporter of President Bush, leadsthe state Republican women's club and has met all of the major GOPpresidential candidates. Yet the effervescent 53-year-old real estate agent,who lives in this former citrus and phosphate mining hub in central Florida,simply can't make up her mind about whom to vote for Tuesday in Florida'scrucial presidential primary.
"I honestly don't know," said Ivell, who is torn by the candidates' appealsas conservatives on economic, national security and social issues.
"The thing I want most," she said, "is someone who will speak the truth."
Undecided Republicans like Ivell living near Interstate 4, the east-westcorridor that divides the Sunshine State, could tip the scales Tuesday. Andthey are being heavily wooed by the leading candidates.
Compared with other parts of the state, GOP voters in the cities and suburbsalong the I-4, a 132-mile stretch of highway that links Daytona Beach andTampa, are more ideologically diverse and less predictable. They are ahodgepodge of the factions -- business people, retirees from the Northeastand the Midwest, military veterans and social conservatives -- thatPresident Reagan united under the conservative banner in the 1980s.
more . . . . .
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/394283.html
Crist blitz could save tax amendment
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
Voter support for the property-tax-cut amendment falls short of the victorymargin in a new Miami Herald poll, but undecided voters, a weekend ad blitzby the governor and a large turnout of Republicans could send it over thetop.
''The property-tax amendment appears headed to victory,'' said Tom Eldon,pollster for Schroth, Eldon & Associates, which conducted the statewidesurvey of 800 likely primary voters. ``The continuing television campaignfeaturing Charlie Crist and the lack of a visible opposition campaign couldmake a difference.''
As a constitutional amendment, the measure needs 60 percent voter approvalto pass. The poll showed that 55 percent support Amendment 1, while 30percent oppose it. Another 14 percent are undecided, and that group isevenly split between Democrats and Republicans.
The three main features of the proposal, placed on the ballot by theLegislature in October, would increase the homestead exemption, givehomeowners the ability to transfer their tax savings to a new home and givenew tax breaks to businesses and nonhomestead property.
The governor has raised more than $3 million from real estate agents,Florida Power & Light and other business groups to promote the amendmentthrough TV ads, mail brochures and automated phone calls. He will devote theweekend to campaigning for the measure and getting the vote out around thestate.
more . . . . .
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St. Petersburg Times
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_PRIMARY_PROPERTY_TAX_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME
Tax-cutting amendment first to face 60 percent requirement
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- If it took only a simple majority to passAmendment 1, the property tax-cutting proposal on Tuesday's ballot, itsbackers would be more confident of victory.
But in 2006, at the urging of Legislative leaders and business interests,voters adopted a measure that made it harder to amend the FloridaConstitution by requiring 60 percent approval at the ballot box. Thatamendment won with 58 percent - good enough under the constitution's oldsimple-majority requirement.
Now those same legislators and business groups are pushing the tax-cutmeasure and it may be the first victim of the 60 percent threshold. A recentpoll by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Florida Times-Union showedthe amendment winning 45 percent to 34 percent among likely voters, with 21percent undecided.
"There's a certain irony in politics, and this is a classic example of it,"said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.
He sponsored the 60 percent requirement in the Republican-controlledLegislature and now he's supporting Amendment 1.
more . . . . .
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/394537.html
Property tax amendment facts and figures
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
Facts and figures on Amendment 1, a property tax relief proposal on the Jan.29 presidential primary ballot:
Taxpayer Effect
- Homestead exemption: Increases from present $25,000 to $50,000 for primaryhomes valued at $50,000 and more except for school taxes. Average savings:$240 per year.
- Portability: Allows primary homeowners to take their accrued Save OurHomes benefits - a 3 percent annual cap on assessment increases - with themwhen they move up to $500,000 in property value. Savings: Only homeownerswho moved in 2007 and subsequent years would save and amounts would varydepending on the values of their new and old homes.
- Tangible Personal Property: Exempts the first $25,000 in value.
more . . . . .
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/418/story/394598.html
Dave Barry: Miss Kumquat gets our vote
BY DAVE BARRY
Posted on Sat, Jan. 26, 2008
On Tuesday, millions of Florida voters will head for the polls. BeingFloridians, many of them will become confused and drive into buildings,canals, cemeteries, other Floridians, etc. But some will actually make it tothe polls, where they will cast ballots that will play a crucial role in thepresidential election. Or, in the case of Democrats, not.
It turns out that the 2008 Florida Democratic primary doesn't count. Floridawill be sending the same number of delegates to the 2008 Democraticconvention as Uzbekistan. This may seem unfair, but there's a simple,logical explanation: The whole primary system is insane. Consider theprocess so far:
First, Iowa held ''caucuses,'' in which Iowans gathered in small groups atnight and engaged in some mysterious Iowan ritual that for all we knowinvolves having intimate relations with corn. Right after that, Wyoming hada primary, but it was only for Republicans, because Wyoming Democrats(apparently, there are at least two) will hold their primary on March 8.Most of the candidates ignored Wyoming and focused on the New Hampshireprimary, except Rudy Giuliani, who's following a shrewd strategy, originallydeveloped by the Miami Dolphins, of not entering the race until he has beenmathematically eliminated. After New Hampshire came Michigan, where theballot listed all the Republicans, but only certain Democrats -- includingChris Dodd, who had already dropped out if the race -- but not includingBarack Obama or John Edwards.
After Michigan came the Nevada caucuses, in which Hillary Clinton got morevotes but Barack Obama got more delegates. (If you don't understand how thatcould happen, then you have never been to a casino.) Then came the SouthCarolina Republican primary, which of course was not held on the same day asthe South Carolina Democratic primary, which was Saturday. Then comesFlorida, in which Republican voters will elect some delegates, although thetotal will only be half the number Florida was originally supposed to get.Meanwhile, Florida Democrats, as I mentioned, will have the same impact ontheir party's nomination as if they fed their ballots to ducks.
I am not making any of this up: This is our actual primary system, except (Ihope) the part about the corn. We're selecting candidates for the mostimportant job in the world via a process that's less rational than the oneused to choose Miss Kumquat of Pasco County.
more . . . . .
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Friday, January 25, 2008
GLBT DIGEST January 25, 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.
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Froom GLAAD
Jan. 24, 2008
John Gibson Cruelly Mocks Heath Ledger's Death
In the wake of Heath Ledger's death, people around the world are mourningthe gifted actor's passing and are expressing their appreciation for how hechanged hearts and minds with his Oscar-nominated role as a gay cowboy in2005's Brokeback Mountain.
In a stark and disturbing contrast, Fox News Radio host John Gibson cruellymocked Ledger's death and his role in Brokeback Mountain during his Jan. 22John Gibson Show radio broadcast. During the show, Gibson played an audioclip from the film of Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack, telling Ennis(played by Ledger), "I wish I knew how to quit you." Gibson then coldlyquipped, "Well, he found out how to quit you." Then, after playing anotheraudio clip from the movie of Ledger's character saying, "We're dead," Gibsonmockingly said, "We're dead" and played the clip again.
â?oGibsonâ?Ts remarks are vulgar and disgusting,â? said Rashad Robinson,GLAADâ?Ts Senior Director of Media Programs. â?oItâ?Ts sickening that Gibsonwould exploit Heath Ledgerâ?Ts tragic death to promote such hurtfulintolerance. And to do so at a time when family and friends are grievingshows a level of insensitivity that is beyond the pale.â?
Beyond his mockery of Ledger's role in Brokeback Mountain, Gibson called theactor a "weirdo" with "a serious drug problem," and callously speculated onthe reasons Ledger might have committed suicide. Gibson had previouslymocked Brokeback Mountain--calling it a "gay agenda movie" on his Fox NewsTV program in 2006.
Gibsonâ?Ts Past Comments on Brokeback Mountain:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180499,00.html
TAKE ACTION NOW!
GLAAD strongly urges you to contact Fox News and ask its representatives whythey continue to provide a platform for John Gibson's cruel and tastelesscomments.
Please contact:
Mr. Mitch Davis
Vice President
Fox News Radio Network
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
18th Floor
New York, NY 10036-8701
Direct Phone: *212-301-5800
Outlet Fax: *212-301-5455
Outlet Phone: 212-301-3000
Email: mitch.davis@foxnews.com
Mr. Robert Finnerty
Senior Vice President
Fox News Radio Network
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
18th Floor
New York, NY 10036-8701
Direct Phone: *212-301-5800
Outlet Fax: *212-301-5455
Outlet Phone: 212-301-3000
Email: robert.finnerty@foxnews.com
Ms. Irena Briganti
Vice President of Public Relations
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036
Direct Phone : *212-301-3608
Outlet Fax : *212-382-1411
Outlet Phone : 212-301-3000
Email: irena.briganti@foxnews.com
Contact by: E-mail
Ms. Suzanne Scott
Vice President, Programming
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036
Direct Phone : *212-301-8558
Outlet Fax : *212-382-1411
Outlet Phone : 212-301-3000
Email: suzanne.scott@foxnews.com
foxnewsradio@foxnews.com
gibsonradio@foxnews.com
JOHN GIBSON
john.gibson@foxnews.com
212-301-3000
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From Stonewall Democrats
Al Gore Makes Some Noise on Marriage
This week, Vice President Gore shared his thoughts on the freedom ofsame-sex couples to marry. His view? That it would only strengthen theAmerican family. Gore released his statement as a video blog post on CurrentTV, the user-generated cable television channel which he heads.
In response, Executive Director Jon Hoadley noted that "It is a positionwhich some would still call courageous, but which a new generation ofAmericans would call common sense."
To watch the Gore video, simply click here.
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/2008/01/-can-you-invest.php
Intern with Stonewall Democrats this Spring/Summer
We are seeking talented and excited interns to round out our team on staffat the National Stonewall Democrats. Positions will include opportunities atour headquarters in Washington as well as our convention site in Denver.
Our internship program is designed to train individuals in the skillsrequired for success within political organizing and political advocacy. Weseek to develop talents into a skill set desired by political campaigns,government offices and progressive organizations.
You can learn more and apply at:
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/intern/
Please join us for our Oklahoma Regional training the weekend of February22-24. This event will draw on the media expertise of GLAAD to help prepareyou, and your chapter, to grow your media exposure and organizing skills.Registration is $50, but only $25 for students and members who book theiraccommodation through our host hotel - the Skirvin Hilton.
Note: To receive the $25 registration rate, you must have a valid room nightat the Skirvin Hilton under the National Stonewall Democrats block foreither Friday, February 23 or Saturday, February 24. We are proud to offer areduced rate at this luxury hotel for only $138/night. To receive yourspecial Stonewall Democrats rate, mention code SWD when calling the hotel at(405) 272-3040.
Please take a moment to register today. This is a dynamic opportunity that Idon't want you to miss.
Register today at: http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/okc
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The Senate is rushing to pass legislation THIS WEEK that wouldgrant retroactive immunity to telecom companies that broke thelaw AND give the Bush Administration sweeping new powers toeavesdrop on us without getting a warrant first.
This one's urgent -- we all need to get in touch with oursenators and put a stop to this horrible legislation.
Take action on this action alert from CREDO Action at
http://act.credomobile.com/campaign/fisa2008?rk=B7enmYp1zWavW
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/25/textbooks
Ghettoized Poli Sci Textbooks
Jan. 25
For many college students, an introductory survey course may be their onlyexposure to a discipline - and in many courses, a textbook may serve as theguide. With that in mind, a committee of political scientists set out to seehow how black people are portrayed in the introductory textbooks used intheir discipline - and the results left them concerned.
The textbooks reviewed do feature discussion of black people and issues thataffected them, but the most in-depth coverage is typically in a chapter onthe civil rights movement, or sometimes civil liberties generally, found astudy by the American Political Science Association's Standing Committee onthe Status of Blacks in the Profession. The study appears in the new issueof PS: Political Science & Politics.
The committee reviewed 27 textbooks used in intro courses, and published orin circulation (in many cases as updated editions of previously issuedversions) from 2004 to 2007. Of those texts, 74 percent had a chapter oncivil rights, 19 percent combine civil rights and civil liberties, and 7percent had no specific chapter. For those books with a civil rightschapter, the average number of pages with references to black issues outsideof that chapter is 13 - not a large number on books that averaged 569 pages.
"Our analysis reveals that African Americans' active participation inAmerica's political development has been treated as a separate entity fromthe rest of the country's development.... [T]extbooks do not discuss AfricanAmericans as active agents (if at all) until the civil rights movement, whenthey are discussed as collective 'recipients' of government action," says areport on the study by Sherri L. Wallace, an associate professor at theUniversity of Louisville, and Marcus D. Allen, an assistant professor atWheaton College, in Massachusetts.
In part, the study attributes the relative absence of black people from thetexts as reflecting a larger bias in the discipline, in favor of powerfulgovernment institutions over less officially powerful (but in many casesextremely important) social movements. "Because political science as adiscipline typically studies institutions and elites as decision-makers, itthereby largely ignores the presence and questions of African-Americanpolitics," the report says. One example from the study: If you are searchingfor an image of a black woman in one of these texts, the person you are mostlikely to find is Condoleezza Rice.
more . . . . .
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From Gays Without Borders
Hello everyone,
We here in Sacramento are working with a TV station in San Franciscothat is putting together a report on the Slavic Evangelicals and theirpolitical organizing (Watchmen on the Walls) and events that led to thedeath of Satender Singh last July.
The station is looking for video footage of gays being attacked byreligious extremists in Slavic countries.
If you can point me to some web sites or furnish such footage pleasecontact me, it will be much appreciated.
Jerry
jerrysloan95828@yahoo.com
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Gays Without Borders
http://www.everyonegroup.com/EveryOne/MainPage/Entries/2008/1/1_Happy_New_Year_from_Pegah_Emambakhsh.html
EveryOne Group is following closely the case of Pegah Emambakhsh, who isstill not out of danger.
The Government of the United Kingdom has not forgiven her call for help tothe free world in an effort to stop her deportation to Teheran, towardsjail and death by stoning. After the Flowers Campaign, Gordon Brown andJacqui Smith, in spite of having total control of the media in the UnitedKingdom, had moments of serious embarrassment when their repeated violationsof the rights of refugees became public domain. Not even they, from theiralmost untouchable positions of power are allowed to break the lawsprotecting human rights with impunity. Our experience, however, teaches usthat the length of time it is taking the judges to reach a decision and themalicious attitude of the magistrates is not a good sign. Pegah is livingunder tremendous pressure, but she is a woman of great moral fibre andindomitable courage. She wants to live, but her heart is troubled for thosewho have no chance of being saved from the executioner: innocent people likeMakwan, like the journalists, dissidents and homosexuals whose lives weretaken away in an atrocious fashion by inhuman laws. Pegah awaits a decisionthat will decide everything for her, but it is not a passive wait, becauseher woman's heart, her mother's heart is filled with pain and anguish forthe fate of those who have neither home nor rights, people who arediscriminated against and sent away. This is why Pegah feels closer toEveryOne Group and its campaign for human rights. Her wishes for the NewYear are a warning not to give way to indifference, and to work together inorder that countries do not forget the human rights treaties which representthe noblest expression of thought and conscience of our civilization.
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Euro-Queer
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080124/97691504.html
Gay Parade in Moscow planned for May
24/ 01/ 2008
MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) - Gays rights activists plan to hold amarch in central Moscow in May, their third attempt after previous paradeswere banned by the Moscow mayor, the event organizer said.
"We expect this to be a political and public event, without outrage, butwith specific demands," Nikolai Alexeyev said, speaking on the Ekho Moskvyradio station.
Moscow authorities rejected official requests by Gay Parade organizers in2006 and 2007 for permission to march, on the grounds that it wouldinterfere with the rights and routines of ordinary Muscovites.
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has branded gay pride parades "Satanic" and vowed thatthey would never be permitted in the capital, while the Russian OrthodoxChurch and various far-right groups have sworn to halt any attempt to hold amarch in support of gay rights in Russia.
Alexeyev said: "If the march will be again illegally banned, we will applyto Russian and European courts."
Last year, Moscow's Tverskoi District Court ruled that a city ban on holdinga Gay Pride Parade was legal. Around 100 protestors subsequently gatheredoutside City Hall to submit a petition to the mayor against what they calledan 'unfounded and illegal prohibition on holding the march in support ofsexual minorities in Russia.'
more....
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-jonah23jansbjan25,0,959358,print.story
When a conservative and liberal 'talk'
January 25, 2008
If you're like me, you probably watch Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Ifyou're like me, you probably also turn to reruns of Scrubs or Seinfeld whenthe newsmaker interview comes on. If that's the case, you probably missed meand Jon Stewart playing Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots last week.
It started civilly enough, discussing my new book, Liberal Fascism. Butthings got sufficiently testy that we spent nearly 20 minutes swearing andsparring, and only six minutes aired.
Largely left on the cutting-room floor were some important points that mighthave made my book seem a bit more nuanced. When he railed aboutconservatives and gay marriage, I pointed out that in my book, I'msympathetic to it. When he took shots at Republicans, I noted that Icriticize the likes of President Bush and Pat Buchanan for being "right-wingprogressives."
Viewers in search of more than disjointed, stuttering cross talk would bedisappointed if they caught the whole exchange. Stewart, try as he might,could not understand where I'm coming from.
His stated problem, in a nutshell, was that he didn't like the book's titleor its cover (bright red with a smiley face - oh, and the smiley face has alittle Hitler mustache). Stewart's complaint, echoed all over the Web, radioand TV by other critics, is that a book can indeed be judged by the cover. Itried to explain, for those whose feelings were so hurt they didn't evencrack the spine, that the title Liberal Fascism comes from a speechdelivered by H.G. Wells, one of the most important and influentialprogressive and socialist intellectuals of the 20th century. He wanted tore-brand liberalism as "liberal fascism" and even "enlightened Nazism." Asfor the smiley face, that's a reference to comedian and social commentator George Carlin, who explained on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher that "whenfascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It willnot be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts.Smiley-smiley."
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum25buttesbjan25,0,6686283print.story
Amendment may change way you live
By William Butte
January 25, 2008
Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman ashusband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or thesubstantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized. - FloridaMarriage Protection Amendment
Are you a heterosexual Floridian who is, as some might describe it, "livingin sin"?
Are you and your significant other retirees who registered as domesticpartners to ensure you wouldn't be denied the right to visit each other inthe hospital? Or, are you younger or middle-aged, and have health insuranceor other benefits through your partner's employer?
If you and your other half are a gay or non-married straight couple andreceive domestic partnership benefits either through a local registry orthrough your employer, those benefits might disappear if the FloridaMarriage Protection Amendment is placed on the ballot this November andenough Floridians vote for it.
The constitutional amendment is supposedly designed to prevent any ofFlorida's non-existent, pro-gay marriage activist judges from ruling againststate law that already prohibits same-sex marriages or legal recognition ofsame-sex relationships "treated as marriage."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://img.getactivehub.com/an2/custom_images/espany/espa.gif>
New York: Thank Governor Spitzer for Funding LGBT Health & Human Services
For the second year in a row, Governor Spitzer has provided $6 million inhis Executive Budget for critical heath and human services programstargeting New York State's LGBT communities. This matches the Governor'srecord-setting allocation last year--and given that many other statewideprograms received funding cuts because of a looming budget deficit, this istruly a victory of our community!
In maintaining this level of funding, Governor Spitzer continues todemonstrate his support for directly funding community-based providers whoefficiently deliver services in their own neighborhoods--a model that theNew York State LGBT Health and Human Services Network has proven to beeffective.
More than 600,000 LGBT New Yorkers benefit from these communityorganizations, which provide non-HIV services ranging from substance abusetreatment, violence prevention, emergency housing services, family support,programs for youth, senior citizens and people of color, and much more.
Send the letter below to thank Governor Spitzer for his commitment to makingsure that LGBT people across New York State have access to local programsand services that help all of us to be healthier, happier and moreproductive citizens.
http://eqfed.org/campaign/thank_you_spitzer_2008/wb3n5d54z77kw55n?
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Check out what's new at BayWindows.com
http://www.baywindows.com
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Europe: Gay Adoption Ruling Advances Family Equality
Governments Should Change Laws
(New York, January 24, 2008) - The European Court of Human Rights' rulingthat a lesbian woman can embark on the process of adopting a child meansEuropean states should ensure equality in the right to found a family, HumanRights Watch said today.
The court, ruling on January 22, 2008 in the case of E.B. v. France, held by10 votes to seven that the French authorities' refusal of a lesbian'sapplication to obtain authorization to adopt a child on the grounds of hersexual orientation was unlawful. The court said France had violated Article14 (prohibition of discrimination) and Article 8 (right to respect forprivate and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
"This groundbreaking ruling means governments can't use sexual orientationto stop someone from adopting a child," said Scott Long, director of theLesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Program at Human Rights Watch."Adoption decisions should be based on the best interests of the child,uncontaminated by prejudice."
The court is the oversight mechanism for the European Convention and itsdecisions are binding across the 47 members of the Council of Europe (CoE)who have ratified the convention.
more....
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LATVIA: Reactions on the adoption judgement of the
European Court of Human Rights
www.vdiena.lv, 24 January 2008
LPP/LC: Allowing Homosexual Couples to Adopt Children ViolatesConstitution. Mozaika: Party is Confusing Concepts
The LPP/LC (First Party of Latvia/Latvia's Way) faction of Latvia'sParliament categorically rejects the comparison of homosexual relations orsame-gender cohabitation to a family, and permission for homosexual couplesto seek the status of a family and to adopt children violates the LatvianConstitution. In Section 110, it states that "the State shall protect andsupport marriage, the family, the rights of parents and rights of the child.The State shall provide special support to disabled children, children leftwithout parental care or who have suffered from violence." This has beenannounced by the party in a press release.
On Wednesday (January 23), the LPP/LC faction heard a report prepared by twoparty members - children's and family affairs minister Ainars Baðtiks andminister with special portfolio for public integration Oskars Kastçns -about the ruling from the European Court of Human Rights which stated that arefusal by institutions to allow homosexual people to seek permission toadopt a child is discriminatory.
The party says that the ministers and all members of the faction agreed thatthis approach to the adoption of children is completely unjustified andunacceptable, because it ignores circumstances in which an adopted childshould live, the psychological compatibility between future parents and thechild, and the possible influence which the child might face.
more....
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/news/localnews/4351.cfm
Profile of an anti-gay murder: Documentary faults culture, police and mediain Skipper killing
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Jan. 24, 2008
When filmmaker Vicki Nantz first learned about the brutal murder of centralFlorida student Ryan Skipper just south of her community, her journalisticinstincts took over. After almost a year of investigative work, she produced"Accessory to Murder: Our Culture's Complicity in the Death of Ryan Skipper." The 72-minute documentary tells the story of the hate crime andsocietal norms that thrive in rural America that Nantz believes allowed itto happen.
The documentary is a thoughtful examination of how the crime wasinvestigated and portrayed in the media.
As friends and family get ready to mark the first anniversary of the crimeMarch 14, Nantz is releasing the film to high schools, colleges and GLBTorganizations. There will be a public screening in Orlando to mark thetragic anniversary.
For Nantz, the story is not only about a brutal murder but also about thesecond-class status of many gay people in rural America. Skipper, a25-year-old computer science student, was found stabbed to death along theside of a road in Wahneta, Fla., about 50 miles south of Orlando. WilliamDavid Brown, 21, and Joseph Bearden, 22, have been charged with first-degreemurder in the case and are awaiting trial. The Polk County Sheriff's Officeclassified the killing as an anti-gay hate crime.
According to police, Skipper picked up Brown, and after partying in Skipper's apartment the two men drove to pick up Bearden. At some point soonafterward, Bearden and Brown allegedly stabbed Skipper more than 20 times,slit his throat, dumped his body by the side of the road and stole his car.The pair allegedly drove around town showing off the bloody interior of thecar.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/news/localnews/4353.cfm
GLBT groups clash over state anti-bias bills
Disagreement over transgender inclusion mirrors federal fight
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Jan. 24, 2008
Gay political organizations are clashing over the best way to passGLBT-friendly anti-discrimination bills through the Florida Legislature. Thehead butting is taking on strategic tones similar to those that emerged lastyear in the fight over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S.Congress.
Gay rights organizations are taking different stances on whether to supporta two-pronged effort that sends separate anti-discrimination bills throughthe Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. If passed,House Bill 47 sponsored by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) would banemployment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation as well asgender identity and gender expression. Senate Bill 572, introduced by TedDeutch (D-Delray Beach), bans discrimination based on sexual orientationonly. Both bills are expected to go before the Florida Legislature duringthe spring session, which begins March 4.
There is little expectation that either bill will be successful in theconservative-dominated legislature. Last year, a similar bill that onlyincluded sexual orientation protections was not even read. Groups such asEquality Florida and the Palm Beach Human Rights Council have been active inseeking political support for the Skidmore bill. Equality Florida, however,a statewide GLBT political organization, has been lobbying legislators notto support the non-inclusive Senate bill.
"Our position is that we will not support a bill that leaves a portion ofour community behind," said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of EqualityFlorida. "We believe in a fully inclusive bill."
Pollitzer characterized the current Senate bill as "bad policy," and saidthat Equality is seeking either to find a state senator who will sponsor anentirely new inclusive bill or to convince Deutch to expand his bill toinclude gender identity and expression.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/news/worldnews/4356.cfm
International News : Grenada to allow cruise ships with gay passengers to
dock
Jan. 24, 2008
TORONTO - Cruise ships carrying gay passengers will be permitted to dock inGrenada this year, according to a report in the Toronto Star. The newspapersaid last week that the country was debating whether or not to allow entryto gay cruise ships, which prompted hotel cancellations, according totourism minister Clarice Modeste-Curwen. Some protesters also wrote theCanadian government asking that aid be cut to Grenada's Port of St. Georgeswhere cruise ships dock, the newspaper reported. "We will continue towelcome all visitors and we will work, along with our population, to ensurethat their time and ours will be enjoyable," Modeste-Curwen said. "Grenadarespects the rights of all persons of all persuasions and lifestyles."
Despite the announcement, gay sex remains illegal in Grenada. The head ofthe Toronto-based gay rights group Egale said she was monitoring thesituation. "We're hoping the government will change its legislation," HelenKennedy told the Star. "Not only for the sake of cruise passengers but alsofor the [gay] community in that country."
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-gay-politics-2008,0,7666814,print.story
Campaign Frustrates Some Gay Activists
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer
6:48 AM EST, January 25, 2008
NEW YORK
Few constituencies are as eager for the Republican Party to falter thispolitical season as gay-rights activists. Yet as they observe the Democraticpresidential campaign and the rest of the electoral landscape, their highhopes often are mixed with frustration.
Even as they expect to support whichever Democrat gets the presidentialnomination, many activists are disappointed that the three leadingcontenders rarely mention gay-rights topics unless responding to a question.
"They don't want to broach civil unions, marriage, equalizing benefits forsame-sex couples," said Jennifer Chrisler, head of the Family EqualityCouncil, which supports gay and lesbian families. "The vast majority ofpoliticians don't lead, they follow."
There are other frustrations as well. Activists were dismayed that theDemocratic-led Congress failed to approve two much-anticipated bills latelast year -- one defining anti-gay assaults as a federal hate crime, theother prohibiting anti-gay job discrimination.
And at a time when they hoped to be making advances, gays and lesbians areon the defensive in at least two states -- facing a likely ballot item inFlorida that would ban same-sex marriage and a measure in Arkansas aimed atbanning them from adopting children or serving as foster parents.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/view/columns/4369.cfm
Can the gay community survive?
Are assimilation and dispersion reasons to sound the alarm bell?
By PAUL VARNELL
Jan. 24, 2008
After I wrote recently about research on homosexuality and people'sill-founded concern that it could lead to preventing homosexuality, Iremembered that there is also a cluster of concerns about the survival ofthe gay enclave, or community. Let's take a look at those.
One concern is that gays are becoming "assimilated," that they are becomingmore like mainstream society and losing whatever unique qualities andvaluable differences they have.
I don't know if gays are inherently, intrinsically different from
heterosexuals. Early Mattachine Society manifestos back in 1950 referred togays as "androgynes," or inherently cross-gendered, a view which stillsurvives in the antics of the "radical fairies."
But I doubt it is or ever was true. Seeing gays as a mix of male and femalebecause of their orientation to the same sex is, after all, a heterosexistview (anyone attracted to a man must be somehow female) and a socialconstruction of the times.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/view/columns/4368.cfm
Heath Ledger: More than a gay cowboy in 'Brokeback Mountain'
Actor will be remembered for courage, shattering stereotypes
By MILES CHRISTIAN DANIELS
Jan. 24, 2008
It's funny how we remember famous people. Tammy Faye Bakker will always beremembered for her eyelashes, Richard Nixon for Watergate, Luciano Pavarottifor his sprawling tenor voice. And, if headlines are any indication, HeathLedger, who died Jan. 22 at the age of 28, will be remembered for hisOscar-nominated performance in "Brokeback Mountain."
Celebrities, for the most part, have little or no say in how they will beremembered. They put themselves out there, and whether it's baseball,singing, televangelism or acting, we - the public - decide on their legacy.
I'll admit it: I wasn't a huge fan of the "gay cowboy" film. Maybe it wasthe hype. I saw it late in its release and was expecting - I don't know -something more. It could be because I had come out of the closet yearsbefore and so much of the pain I had experienced through that process hadbeen stacked away in my closet of now-fading memories.
Whatever the reason, I left thinking the film was just OK. What I did leavewith, however, is an appreciation for the bravery of both Ledger and JakeGyllenhaal for accepting the role many of their counterparts had rejectedfor fear it just might ruin their careers.
And in spite of my disappointment in the film, Ledger and Gyllenhaal helpedchallenge a notion many of us in the gay community have battled with sinceour coming out - that we're all effeminate, fashion gurus whose sexuality isdefined entirely by stereotype and - even worse - by choice. Because ofthis, I had never been a fan of shows like "Will and Grace" or "Queer Eyefor the Straight Guy." Those shows, in my opinion, only confirmed what manypeople already assumed.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=16193
DNC lawsuit reveals black vs. gay rivalry
Top party official accused of stirring anti-gay prejudice
By KEVIN NAFF & JOSHUA LYNSEN | Jan 24, 11:34 AM
A gay man's lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee has revealedallegations of bitter, behind-the-scenes disputes that appear to pit blackDNC officials against gays.
In a fiery e-mail exchange obtained this week by the Blade, a seniorofficial with the gay partisan group National Stonewall Democrats denouncesa top DNC staffer, Leah Daughtry, for allegedly inciting anti-gay prejudice.
"Imagine what [DNC Chair Howard] Dean could do if people like Leah wereconfronted for their bigotry and fired," writes the Stonewall Democratsofficial. The author's name is redacted on the e-mails obtained by theBlade. The e-mails were sent in 2006.
Referring to Daughtry, the official says, "I think Samuel L. Jackson said itbest when he said 'I'm sick of these mother fuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane.' It may be time to drive the snakes from the DNC."
The Stonewall Democrats group works closely with the DNC.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
New Mexico
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=16203
Domestic partnership proposal approved by House
Proposal would also recognize same-sex marriages from other states
SANTA FE (AP) | Jan 24, 4:33 PM
Gay and heterosexual couples could form domestic partnerships and enjoy thesame rights and benefits as married couples under legislation approved bythe House on Thursday.
"This is a bill about fairness and justice," said Rep. Mimi Stewart, anAlbuquerque Democrat. "This bill would offer basic legal protections tosame-sex couples unable to marry as well opposite-sex couples, many of whomare senior citizens and people with disabilities, that choose not to marryfor financial reasons."
The proposal, which is part of Gov. Bill Richardson's legislative agenda,also will recognize same-sex marriages from other states as having the legalrights as a domestic partnership in New Mexico.
The House approved the measure on a mostly party-line 33-31 vote. TwoRepublicans supported the bill and seven Democrats opposed it.
The bill goes to the Senate, where a similar domestic partnership proposalstalled last year.
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Freakonomics
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/swimming-pools-and-dont-ask-dont-tell-a-guest-post/
Swimming Pools and 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': A Guest Post
By Ian Ayres
January 23, 2008, 11:40 am
With the Democrats in control of Congress, and with the prediction marketssuggesting a Democratic presidential victory, there has been a lot of talkabout ending sexual orientation discrimination in the military by repealingthe "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ("DADT") policy.
There are always two ways of ending de jure discrimination: you can levelup, or level down. In the late 1950s, the estimable city of Greensboro,N.C., operated a whites-only swimming pool. When a group of AfricanAmericans petitioned the city council to end the segregation, the councilrelented -- by closing the pool to both whites and blacks.
As such, there are also two ways to end the military's de jurediscrimination based on sexual orientation. We can either repeal DADT, or wecould extend its application to heterosexuals as well. If extended, nosoldier could talk about his or her orientation without risk of exclusion.
My own church, St. Thomas Episcopal in New Haven, tried a version of thisstrategy. In 2004, the church vestry adopted a resolution "calling for St.Thomas's clergy to treat same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples equallyin administering the sacrament of marriage," as the church Web sitedescribes it. The Bishop was not amused, and within 3 days he called anemergency meeting warning our rector, Father Michael Ray, that he riskedbeing defrocked if he performed marriage ceremonies for any same-sex couplesinside the church. Ray responded by honoring both the request of the vestryand the demands of the Bishop by announcing a moratorium on the celebrationof all marriages. The Times ran a great piece describing the event.
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Science Now
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/118/3
An Eye for Sexual Orientation
By Matt Kaplan
ScienceNOW Daily News
18 January 2008
Talk about "gaydar." In just a fraction of a second, people can accuratelyjudge the sexual orientation of other individuals by glancing at theirfaces, according to new research. The finding builds on the growing theorythat the subconscious mind detects and probably guides much more of humanbehavior than is realized.
Humans are remarkably good at making snap judgments about others. In ahallmark study conducted by psychologists Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthalin 1994, people shown 2-second video clips of professors teaching formedopinions about the professors' teaching abilities that were uncannilysimilar to evaluations written by students at the end of a semester. Theresults led psychologists to begin questioning what else people might detectin a glance.
Ambady and colleague Nicholas Rule, both at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, wondered about sexual orientation. They showed men and womenphotos of 90 faces belonging to homosexual men and heterosexual men forintervals ranging from 33 milliseconds to 10 seconds. When given 100milliseconds or more to view a face, participants correctly identifiedsexual orientation nearly 70% of the time. Volunteers were less accurate atshorter durations, and their accuracy did not get better at durations beyond100 milliseconds, the team reports in an upcoming issue of the Journal ofExperimental Social Psychology. "What is most interesting is that increasedexposure time did not improve the results," says Ambady.
Romantic attraction likely works just as fast, notes psychologist PaulEastwick of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. "If people makeaccurate judgments about sexually relevant aspects of a person thisquickly," he says, "you have to stop and wonder how we size up one another'sromantic potential in a matter of milliseconds."
Psychologist David Kenny of the University of Connecticut, Storrs, says thefinding demonstrates the brain's remarkable ability to make fast yetaccurate appraisals. Still, he notes that with some of the images, accuracyregularly fell below 50%. It's possible that some faces are just hard toread.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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GLBT Center Has Grand Opening
The University's new Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center had itsgrand opening yesterday in the Talley Student Center Lobby. Approximately150 people came to celebrate the Center's opening.
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Get In the Gay Swim of Things
They have wonderful names-the Atlanta Rainbow Trout, the Queer Utah AthleticClub (QUAC), and SQUID-Swimming Queers United in Denver. They're gay andlesbian swim clubs, and they're splashing through pools around the world.
There may even be one in your own home town. These clubs are a great way tokeep in shape while making new friends and contributing to your community.
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Decisions Loom in Presidential Primaries
For gays in states with the largest gay populations, such as California,it's decision time in the 2008 presidential race. From the evidenceavailable - anecdotal and indirect - most gays are trying to choose betweenthe top two Democratic candidates - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Forthose who will consider only a Republican, the choice appears to have alsonarrowed to two - John McCain, whose record has been relatively moderate ongay-related issues, and Rudy Giuliani, whose record has been relativelysupportive but whose campaign is relying on a sort of "Hail, Mary" strategythat starts in Florida on January 29.
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Lesbian Dem Caught Up in DNC Bias Lawsuit
Add a claim of perjury to the ongoing saga of bad blood between DonaldHitchcock and the Democratic National Committee. The alleged perjuryinvolves Claire Lucas, who chairs the board of the Gay and LesbianLeadership Council at the DNC.
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WA State Legislature Has Largest Gay Caucus in U.S.
The Washington state Legislature has more gay lawmakers than any other statein the country, edging out California after a new young member was appointedto the statehouse this year.
Marko Liias, a 26-year-old Democrat from Mukilteo, started the legislativesession earlier this month, replacing former Rep. Brian Sullivan, who leftthe Legislature for the Snohomish County Council. Liias' arrival givesWashington state six openly gay lawmakers, ahead of California with five.
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Gay Rights' Group Eyes Key Races to Advance Marriage Agenda
A coalition of politically active gay rights groups will gather at aRockville Centre synagogue Wednesday night to explain its strategy to ouststate lawmakers they said have blocked legislation supporting same-sexmarriage.
Prior to the meeting, leaders of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gayrights organization, said they plan to focus on a few key Long Island races,but they declined to name the candidates involved.
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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Frustrates Some Gay Leaders
(New York City) Few constituencies are as eager for the Republican Party tofalter this political season as gay-rights activists. Yet as they observethe Democratic presidential campaign and the rest of the electorallandscape, their high hopes often are mixed with frustration.
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Race A Minefield For Obama In SC
(Charleston, South Carolina) Democrat Barack Obama is walking a trickyracial line in South Carolina, openly appealing to black voters whilestriving not to be tagged as "the black candidate."
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NY Times Endorses Clinton, McCain
(New York City) The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Sens.Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain in the presidential primary race.
Also:
- Gay Marriage Advocate Kucinich Abandons White House Bid
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NYPD Now Says More Calls To Olsen Before 911
(New York City) The massage therapist's first call on finding a lifelessHeath Ledger wasn't to 911. Nor was her second. Nor her third, police nowsay.
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Will 3rd Try Be Lucky For Moscow Gays?
(Moscow) Moscow's LGBT community will make its third attempt to hold a gaypride parade in the Russian capital and this time organizers hope it will beallowed to go on.
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Bid To Impeach Gay Marriage Judge
(Des Moines, Iowa) Petitions with over 6,000 signatures were delivered tothe Iowa legislature Thursday demanding lawmaker impeach a judge who lastyear struck down a state law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.
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Court Upholds New Orleans Same-Sex Partner Benefits
(New Orleans, Louisiana) A New Orleans court has ruled that the city of NewOrleans was within its authority when it granted health benefits to domesticpartners of city employees and established a domestic partner registry forcity residents.
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Court Asked To Strike Down Gay Pension Ruling
(New York City) A New York State court was asked Thursday to strike down aruling in a long running battle over pension rights, that denied recognitionof a same-sex couple's Canadian marriage.
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Puerto Rico Gov. Won't Block Vote To Ban Gay Marriage
(San Juan, Puerto Rico) Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila says he opposesa referendum to ban same-sex marriage but he will not stand in the way ifthe island's House of Representatives approves it.
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And Now There Are Six!
(Olympia, Washington) Marko Liias has been sworn in as Washington state'snewest lawmaker - bringing to six the number of openly gay members of theLegislature.
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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Froom GLAAD
Jan. 24, 2008
John Gibson Cruelly Mocks Heath Ledger's Death
In the wake of Heath Ledger's death, people around the world are mourningthe gifted actor's passing and are expressing their appreciation for how hechanged hearts and minds with his Oscar-nominated role as a gay cowboy in2005's Brokeback Mountain.
In a stark and disturbing contrast, Fox News Radio host John Gibson cruellymocked Ledger's death and his role in Brokeback Mountain during his Jan. 22John Gibson Show radio broadcast. During the show, Gibson played an audioclip from the film of Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack, telling Ennis(played by Ledger), "I wish I knew how to quit you." Gibson then coldlyquipped, "Well, he found out how to quit you." Then, after playing anotheraudio clip from the movie of Ledger's character saying, "We're dead," Gibsonmockingly said, "We're dead" and played the clip again.
â?oGibsonâ?Ts remarks are vulgar and disgusting,â? said Rashad Robinson,GLAADâ?Ts Senior Director of Media Programs. â?oItâ?Ts sickening that Gibsonwould exploit Heath Ledgerâ?Ts tragic death to promote such hurtfulintolerance. And to do so at a time when family and friends are grievingshows a level of insensitivity that is beyond the pale.â?
Beyond his mockery of Ledger's role in Brokeback Mountain, Gibson called theactor a "weirdo" with "a serious drug problem," and callously speculated onthe reasons Ledger might have committed suicide. Gibson had previouslymocked Brokeback Mountain--calling it a "gay agenda movie" on his Fox NewsTV program in 2006.
Gibsonâ?Ts Past Comments on Brokeback Mountain:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180499,00.html
TAKE ACTION NOW!
GLAAD strongly urges you to contact Fox News and ask its representatives whythey continue to provide a platform for John Gibson's cruel and tastelesscomments.
Please contact:
Mr. Mitch Davis
Vice President
Fox News Radio Network
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
18th Floor
New York, NY 10036-8701
Direct Phone: *212-301-5800
Outlet Fax: *212-301-5455
Outlet Phone: 212-301-3000
Email: mitch.davis@foxnews.com
Mr. Robert Finnerty
Senior Vice President
Fox News Radio Network
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
18th Floor
New York, NY 10036-8701
Direct Phone: *212-301-5800
Outlet Fax: *212-301-5455
Outlet Phone: 212-301-3000
Email: robert.finnerty@foxnews.com
Ms. Irena Briganti
Vice President of Public Relations
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036
Direct Phone : *212-301-3608
Outlet Fax : *212-382-1411
Outlet Phone : 212-301-3000
Email: irena.briganti@foxnews.com
Contact by: E-mail
Ms. Suzanne Scott
Vice President, Programming
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036
Direct Phone : *212-301-8558
Outlet Fax : *212-382-1411
Outlet Phone : 212-301-3000
Email: suzanne.scott@foxnews.com
foxnewsradio@foxnews.com
gibsonradio@foxnews.com
JOHN GIBSON
john.gibson@foxnews.com
212-301-3000
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From Stonewall Democrats
Al Gore Makes Some Noise on Marriage
This week, Vice President Gore shared his thoughts on the freedom ofsame-sex couples to marry. His view? That it would only strengthen theAmerican family. Gore released his statement as a video blog post on CurrentTV, the user-generated cable television channel which he heads.
In response, Executive Director Jon Hoadley noted that "It is a positionwhich some would still call courageous, but which a new generation ofAmericans would call common sense."
To watch the Gore video, simply click here.
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/2008/01/-can-you-invest.php
Intern with Stonewall Democrats this Spring/Summer
We are seeking talented and excited interns to round out our team on staffat the National Stonewall Democrats. Positions will include opportunities atour headquarters in Washington as well as our convention site in Denver.
Our internship program is designed to train individuals in the skillsrequired for success within political organizing and political advocacy. Weseek to develop talents into a skill set desired by political campaigns,government offices and progressive organizations.
You can learn more and apply at:
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/intern/
Please join us for our Oklahoma Regional training the weekend of February22-24. This event will draw on the media expertise of GLAAD to help prepareyou, and your chapter, to grow your media exposure and organizing skills.Registration is $50, but only $25 for students and members who book theiraccommodation through our host hotel - the Skirvin Hilton.
Note: To receive the $25 registration rate, you must have a valid room nightat the Skirvin Hilton under the National Stonewall Democrats block foreither Friday, February 23 or Saturday, February 24. We are proud to offer areduced rate at this luxury hotel for only $138/night. To receive yourspecial Stonewall Democrats rate, mention code SWD when calling the hotel at(405) 272-3040.
Please take a moment to register today. This is a dynamic opportunity that Idon't want you to miss.
Register today at: http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/okc
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The Senate is rushing to pass legislation THIS WEEK that wouldgrant retroactive immunity to telecom companies that broke thelaw AND give the Bush Administration sweeping new powers toeavesdrop on us without getting a warrant first.
This one's urgent -- we all need to get in touch with oursenators and put a stop to this horrible legislation.
Take action on this action alert from CREDO Action at
http://act.credomobile.com/campaign/fisa2008?rk=B7enmYp1zWavW
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/25/textbooks
Ghettoized Poli Sci Textbooks
Jan. 25
For many college students, an introductory survey course may be their onlyexposure to a discipline - and in many courses, a textbook may serve as theguide. With that in mind, a committee of political scientists set out to seehow how black people are portrayed in the introductory textbooks used intheir discipline - and the results left them concerned.
The textbooks reviewed do feature discussion of black people and issues thataffected them, but the most in-depth coverage is typically in a chapter onthe civil rights movement, or sometimes civil liberties generally, found astudy by the American Political Science Association's Standing Committee onthe Status of Blacks in the Profession. The study appears in the new issueof PS: Political Science & Politics.
The committee reviewed 27 textbooks used in intro courses, and published orin circulation (in many cases as updated editions of previously issuedversions) from 2004 to 2007. Of those texts, 74 percent had a chapter oncivil rights, 19 percent combine civil rights and civil liberties, and 7percent had no specific chapter. For those books with a civil rightschapter, the average number of pages with references to black issues outsideof that chapter is 13 - not a large number on books that averaged 569 pages.
"Our analysis reveals that African Americans' active participation inAmerica's political development has been treated as a separate entity fromthe rest of the country's development.... [T]extbooks do not discuss AfricanAmericans as active agents (if at all) until the civil rights movement, whenthey are discussed as collective 'recipients' of government action," says areport on the study by Sherri L. Wallace, an associate professor at theUniversity of Louisville, and Marcus D. Allen, an assistant professor atWheaton College, in Massachusetts.
In part, the study attributes the relative absence of black people from thetexts as reflecting a larger bias in the discipline, in favor of powerfulgovernment institutions over less officially powerful (but in many casesextremely important) social movements. "Because political science as adiscipline typically studies institutions and elites as decision-makers, itthereby largely ignores the presence and questions of African-Americanpolitics," the report says. One example from the study: If you are searchingfor an image of a black woman in one of these texts, the person you are mostlikely to find is Condoleezza Rice.
more . . . . .
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From Gays Without Borders
Hello everyone,
We here in Sacramento are working with a TV station in San Franciscothat is putting together a report on the Slavic Evangelicals and theirpolitical organizing (Watchmen on the Walls) and events that led to thedeath of Satender Singh last July.
The station is looking for video footage of gays being attacked byreligious extremists in Slavic countries.
If you can point me to some web sites or furnish such footage pleasecontact me, it will be much appreciated.
Jerry
jerrysloan95828@yahoo.com
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Gays Without Borders
http://www.everyonegroup.com/EveryOne/MainPage/Entries/2008/1/1_Happy_New_Year_from_Pegah_Emambakhsh.html
EveryOne Group is following closely the case of Pegah Emambakhsh, who isstill not out of danger.
The Government of the United Kingdom has not forgiven her call for help tothe free world in an effort to stop her deportation to Teheran, towardsjail and death by stoning. After the Flowers Campaign, Gordon Brown andJacqui Smith, in spite of having total control of the media in the UnitedKingdom, had moments of serious embarrassment when their repeated violationsof the rights of refugees became public domain. Not even they, from theiralmost untouchable positions of power are allowed to break the lawsprotecting human rights with impunity. Our experience, however, teaches usthat the length of time it is taking the judges to reach a decision and themalicious attitude of the magistrates is not a good sign. Pegah is livingunder tremendous pressure, but she is a woman of great moral fibre andindomitable courage. She wants to live, but her heart is troubled for thosewho have no chance of being saved from the executioner: innocent people likeMakwan, like the journalists, dissidents and homosexuals whose lives weretaken away in an atrocious fashion by inhuman laws. Pegah awaits a decisionthat will decide everything for her, but it is not a passive wait, becauseher woman's heart, her mother's heart is filled with pain and anguish forthe fate of those who have neither home nor rights, people who arediscriminated against and sent away. This is why Pegah feels closer toEveryOne Group and its campaign for human rights. Her wishes for the NewYear are a warning not to give way to indifference, and to work together inorder that countries do not forget the human rights treaties which representthe noblest expression of thought and conscience of our civilization.
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Euro-Queer
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080124/97691504.html
Gay Parade in Moscow planned for May
24/ 01/ 2008
MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) - Gays rights activists plan to hold amarch in central Moscow in May, their third attempt after previous paradeswere banned by the Moscow mayor, the event organizer said.
"We expect this to be a political and public event, without outrage, butwith specific demands," Nikolai Alexeyev said, speaking on the Ekho Moskvyradio station.
Moscow authorities rejected official requests by Gay Parade organizers in2006 and 2007 for permission to march, on the grounds that it wouldinterfere with the rights and routines of ordinary Muscovites.
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has branded gay pride parades "Satanic" and vowed thatthey would never be permitted in the capital, while the Russian OrthodoxChurch and various far-right groups have sworn to halt any attempt to hold amarch in support of gay rights in Russia.
Alexeyev said: "If the march will be again illegally banned, we will applyto Russian and European courts."
Last year, Moscow's Tverskoi District Court ruled that a city ban on holdinga Gay Pride Parade was legal. Around 100 protestors subsequently gatheredoutside City Hall to submit a petition to the mayor against what they calledan 'unfounded and illegal prohibition on holding the march in support ofsexual minorities in Russia.'
more....
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-jonah23jansbjan25,0,959358,print.story
When a conservative and liberal 'talk'
January 25, 2008
If you're like me, you probably watch Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Ifyou're like me, you probably also turn to reruns of Scrubs or Seinfeld whenthe newsmaker interview comes on. If that's the case, you probably missed meand Jon Stewart playing Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots last week.
It started civilly enough, discussing my new book, Liberal Fascism. Butthings got sufficiently testy that we spent nearly 20 minutes swearing andsparring, and only six minutes aired.
Largely left on the cutting-room floor were some important points that mighthave made my book seem a bit more nuanced. When he railed aboutconservatives and gay marriage, I pointed out that in my book, I'msympathetic to it. When he took shots at Republicans, I noted that Icriticize the likes of President Bush and Pat Buchanan for being "right-wingprogressives."
Viewers in search of more than disjointed, stuttering cross talk would bedisappointed if they caught the whole exchange. Stewart, try as he might,could not understand where I'm coming from.
His stated problem, in a nutshell, was that he didn't like the book's titleor its cover (bright red with a smiley face - oh, and the smiley face has alittle Hitler mustache). Stewart's complaint, echoed all over the Web, radioand TV by other critics, is that a book can indeed be judged by the cover. Itried to explain, for those whose feelings were so hurt they didn't evencrack the spine, that the title Liberal Fascism comes from a speechdelivered by H.G. Wells, one of the most important and influentialprogressive and socialist intellectuals of the 20th century. He wanted tore-brand liberalism as "liberal fascism" and even "enlightened Nazism." Asfor the smiley face, that's a reference to comedian and social commentator George Carlin, who explained on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher that "whenfascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It willnot be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts.Smiley-smiley."
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum25buttesbjan25,0,6686283print.story
Amendment may change way you live
By William Butte
January 25, 2008
Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman ashusband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or thesubstantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized. - FloridaMarriage Protection Amendment
Are you a heterosexual Floridian who is, as some might describe it, "livingin sin"?
Are you and your significant other retirees who registered as domesticpartners to ensure you wouldn't be denied the right to visit each other inthe hospital? Or, are you younger or middle-aged, and have health insuranceor other benefits through your partner's employer?
If you and your other half are a gay or non-married straight couple andreceive domestic partnership benefits either through a local registry orthrough your employer, those benefits might disappear if the FloridaMarriage Protection Amendment is placed on the ballot this November andenough Floridians vote for it.
The constitutional amendment is supposedly designed to prevent any ofFlorida's non-existent, pro-gay marriage activist judges from ruling againststate law that already prohibits same-sex marriages or legal recognition ofsame-sex relationships "treated as marriage."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://img.getactivehub.com/an2/custom_images/espany/espa.gif>
New York: Thank Governor Spitzer for Funding LGBT Health & Human Services
For the second year in a row, Governor Spitzer has provided $6 million inhis Executive Budget for critical heath and human services programstargeting New York State's LGBT communities. This matches the Governor'srecord-setting allocation last year--and given that many other statewideprograms received funding cuts because of a looming budget deficit, this istruly a victory of our community!
In maintaining this level of funding, Governor Spitzer continues todemonstrate his support for directly funding community-based providers whoefficiently deliver services in their own neighborhoods--a model that theNew York State LGBT Health and Human Services Network has proven to beeffective.
More than 600,000 LGBT New Yorkers benefit from these communityorganizations, which provide non-HIV services ranging from substance abusetreatment, violence prevention, emergency housing services, family support,programs for youth, senior citizens and people of color, and much more.
Send the letter below to thank Governor Spitzer for his commitment to makingsure that LGBT people across New York State have access to local programsand services that help all of us to be healthier, happier and moreproductive citizens.
http://eqfed.org/campaign/thank_you_spitzer_2008/wb3n5d54z77kw55n?
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Check out what's new at BayWindows.com
http://www.baywindows.com
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Europe: Gay Adoption Ruling Advances Family Equality
Governments Should Change Laws
(New York, January 24, 2008) - The European Court of Human Rights' rulingthat a lesbian woman can embark on the process of adopting a child meansEuropean states should ensure equality in the right to found a family, HumanRights Watch said today.
The court, ruling on January 22, 2008 in the case of E.B. v. France, held by10 votes to seven that the French authorities' refusal of a lesbian'sapplication to obtain authorization to adopt a child on the grounds of hersexual orientation was unlawful. The court said France had violated Article14 (prohibition of discrimination) and Article 8 (right to respect forprivate and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
"This groundbreaking ruling means governments can't use sexual orientationto stop someone from adopting a child," said Scott Long, director of theLesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Program at Human Rights Watch."Adoption decisions should be based on the best interests of the child,uncontaminated by prejudice."
The court is the oversight mechanism for the European Convention and itsdecisions are binding across the 47 members of the Council of Europe (CoE)who have ratified the convention.
more....
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LATVIA: Reactions on the adoption judgement of the
European Court of Human Rights
www.vdiena.lv, 24 January 2008
LPP/LC: Allowing Homosexual Couples to Adopt Children ViolatesConstitution. Mozaika: Party is Confusing Concepts
The LPP/LC (First Party of Latvia/Latvia's Way) faction of Latvia'sParliament categorically rejects the comparison of homosexual relations orsame-gender cohabitation to a family, and permission for homosexual couplesto seek the status of a family and to adopt children violates the LatvianConstitution. In Section 110, it states that "the State shall protect andsupport marriage, the family, the rights of parents and rights of the child.The State shall provide special support to disabled children, children leftwithout parental care or who have suffered from violence." This has beenannounced by the party in a press release.
On Wednesday (January 23), the LPP/LC faction heard a report prepared by twoparty members - children's and family affairs minister Ainars Baðtiks andminister with special portfolio for public integration Oskars Kastçns -about the ruling from the European Court of Human Rights which stated that arefusal by institutions to allow homosexual people to seek permission toadopt a child is discriminatory.
The party says that the ministers and all members of the faction agreed thatthis approach to the adoption of children is completely unjustified andunacceptable, because it ignores circumstances in which an adopted childshould live, the psychological compatibility between future parents and thechild, and the possible influence which the child might face.
more....
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/news/localnews/4351.cfm
Profile of an anti-gay murder: Documentary faults culture, police and mediain Skipper killing
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Jan. 24, 2008
When filmmaker Vicki Nantz first learned about the brutal murder of centralFlorida student Ryan Skipper just south of her community, her journalisticinstincts took over. After almost a year of investigative work, she produced"Accessory to Murder: Our Culture's Complicity in the Death of Ryan Skipper." The 72-minute documentary tells the story of the hate crime andsocietal norms that thrive in rural America that Nantz believes allowed itto happen.
The documentary is a thoughtful examination of how the crime wasinvestigated and portrayed in the media.
As friends and family get ready to mark the first anniversary of the crimeMarch 14, Nantz is releasing the film to high schools, colleges and GLBTorganizations. There will be a public screening in Orlando to mark thetragic anniversary.
For Nantz, the story is not only about a brutal murder but also about thesecond-class status of many gay people in rural America. Skipper, a25-year-old computer science student, was found stabbed to death along theside of a road in Wahneta, Fla., about 50 miles south of Orlando. WilliamDavid Brown, 21, and Joseph Bearden, 22, have been charged with first-degreemurder in the case and are awaiting trial. The Polk County Sheriff's Officeclassified the killing as an anti-gay hate crime.
According to police, Skipper picked up Brown, and after partying in Skipper's apartment the two men drove to pick up Bearden. At some point soonafterward, Bearden and Brown allegedly stabbed Skipper more than 20 times,slit his throat, dumped his body by the side of the road and stole his car.The pair allegedly drove around town showing off the bloody interior of thecar.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/news/localnews/4353.cfm
GLBT groups clash over state anti-bias bills
Disagreement over transgender inclusion mirrors federal fight
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Jan. 24, 2008
Gay political organizations are clashing over the best way to passGLBT-friendly anti-discrimination bills through the Florida Legislature. Thehead butting is taking on strategic tones similar to those that emerged lastyear in the fight over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S.Congress.
Gay rights organizations are taking different stances on whether to supporta two-pronged effort that sends separate anti-discrimination bills throughthe Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. If passed,House Bill 47 sponsored by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) would banemployment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation as well asgender identity and gender expression. Senate Bill 572, introduced by TedDeutch (D-Delray Beach), bans discrimination based on sexual orientationonly. Both bills are expected to go before the Florida Legislature duringthe spring session, which begins March 4.
There is little expectation that either bill will be successful in theconservative-dominated legislature. Last year, a similar bill that onlyincluded sexual orientation protections was not even read. Groups such asEquality Florida and the Palm Beach Human Rights Council have been active inseeking political support for the Skidmore bill. Equality Florida, however,a statewide GLBT political organization, has been lobbying legislators notto support the non-inclusive Senate bill.
"Our position is that we will not support a bill that leaves a portion ofour community behind," said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of EqualityFlorida. "We believe in a fully inclusive bill."
Pollitzer characterized the current Senate bill as "bad policy," and saidthat Equality is seeking either to find a state senator who will sponsor anentirely new inclusive bill or to convince Deutch to expand his bill toinclude gender identity and expression.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/news/worldnews/4356.cfm
International News : Grenada to allow cruise ships with gay passengers to
dock
Jan. 24, 2008
TORONTO - Cruise ships carrying gay passengers will be permitted to dock inGrenada this year, according to a report in the Toronto Star. The newspapersaid last week that the country was debating whether or not to allow entryto gay cruise ships, which prompted hotel cancellations, according totourism minister Clarice Modeste-Curwen. Some protesters also wrote theCanadian government asking that aid be cut to Grenada's Port of St. Georgeswhere cruise ships dock, the newspaper reported. "We will continue towelcome all visitors and we will work, along with our population, to ensurethat their time and ours will be enjoyable," Modeste-Curwen said. "Grenadarespects the rights of all persons of all persuasions and lifestyles."
Despite the announcement, gay sex remains illegal in Grenada. The head ofthe Toronto-based gay rights group Egale said she was monitoring thesituation. "We're hoping the government will change its legislation," HelenKennedy told the Star. "Not only for the sake of cruise passengers but alsofor the [gay] community in that country."
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-gay-politics-2008,0,7666814,print.story
Campaign Frustrates Some Gay Activists
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer
6:48 AM EST, January 25, 2008
NEW YORK
Few constituencies are as eager for the Republican Party to falter thispolitical season as gay-rights activists. Yet as they observe the Democraticpresidential campaign and the rest of the electoral landscape, their highhopes often are mixed with frustration.
Even as they expect to support whichever Democrat gets the presidentialnomination, many activists are disappointed that the three leadingcontenders rarely mention gay-rights topics unless responding to a question.
"They don't want to broach civil unions, marriage, equalizing benefits forsame-sex couples," said Jennifer Chrisler, head of the Family EqualityCouncil, which supports gay and lesbian families. "The vast majority ofpoliticians don't lead, they follow."
There are other frustrations as well. Activists were dismayed that theDemocratic-led Congress failed to approve two much-anticipated bills latelast year -- one defining anti-gay assaults as a federal hate crime, theother prohibiting anti-gay job discrimination.
And at a time when they hoped to be making advances, gays and lesbians areon the defensive in at least two states -- facing a likely ballot item inFlorida that would ban same-sex marriage and a measure in Arkansas aimed atbanning them from adopting children or serving as foster parents.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/view/columns/4369.cfm
Can the gay community survive?
Are assimilation and dispersion reasons to sound the alarm bell?
By PAUL VARNELL
Jan. 24, 2008
After I wrote recently about research on homosexuality and people'sill-founded concern that it could lead to preventing homosexuality, Iremembered that there is also a cluster of concerns about the survival ofthe gay enclave, or community. Let's take a look at those.
One concern is that gays are becoming "assimilated," that they are becomingmore like mainstream society and losing whatever unique qualities andvaluable differences they have.
I don't know if gays are inherently, intrinsically different from
heterosexuals. Early Mattachine Society manifestos back in 1950 referred togays as "androgynes," or inherently cross-gendered, a view which stillsurvives in the antics of the "radical fairies."
But I doubt it is or ever was true. Seeing gays as a mix of male and femalebecause of their orientation to the same sex is, after all, a heterosexistview (anyone attracted to a man must be somehow female) and a socialconstruction of the times.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-24/view/columns/4368.cfm
Heath Ledger: More than a gay cowboy in 'Brokeback Mountain'
Actor will be remembered for courage, shattering stereotypes
By MILES CHRISTIAN DANIELS
Jan. 24, 2008
It's funny how we remember famous people. Tammy Faye Bakker will always beremembered for her eyelashes, Richard Nixon for Watergate, Luciano Pavarottifor his sprawling tenor voice. And, if headlines are any indication, HeathLedger, who died Jan. 22 at the age of 28, will be remembered for hisOscar-nominated performance in "Brokeback Mountain."
Celebrities, for the most part, have little or no say in how they will beremembered. They put themselves out there, and whether it's baseball,singing, televangelism or acting, we - the public - decide on their legacy.
I'll admit it: I wasn't a huge fan of the "gay cowboy" film. Maybe it wasthe hype. I saw it late in its release and was expecting - I don't know -something more. It could be because I had come out of the closet yearsbefore and so much of the pain I had experienced through that process hadbeen stacked away in my closet of now-fading memories.
Whatever the reason, I left thinking the film was just OK. What I did leavewith, however, is an appreciation for the bravery of both Ledger and JakeGyllenhaal for accepting the role many of their counterparts had rejectedfor fear it just might ruin their careers.
And in spite of my disappointment in the film, Ledger and Gyllenhaal helpedchallenge a notion many of us in the gay community have battled with sinceour coming out - that we're all effeminate, fashion gurus whose sexuality isdefined entirely by stereotype and - even worse - by choice. Because ofthis, I had never been a fan of shows like "Will and Grace" or "Queer Eyefor the Straight Guy." Those shows, in my opinion, only confirmed what manypeople already assumed.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=16193
DNC lawsuit reveals black vs. gay rivalry
Top party official accused of stirring anti-gay prejudice
By KEVIN NAFF & JOSHUA LYNSEN | Jan 24, 11:34 AM
A gay man's lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee has revealedallegations of bitter, behind-the-scenes disputes that appear to pit blackDNC officials against gays.
In a fiery e-mail exchange obtained this week by the Blade, a seniorofficial with the gay partisan group National Stonewall Democrats denouncesa top DNC staffer, Leah Daughtry, for allegedly inciting anti-gay prejudice.
"Imagine what [DNC Chair Howard] Dean could do if people like Leah wereconfronted for their bigotry and fired," writes the Stonewall Democratsofficial. The author's name is redacted on the e-mails obtained by theBlade. The e-mails were sent in 2006.
Referring to Daughtry, the official says, "I think Samuel L. Jackson said itbest when he said 'I'm sick of these mother fuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane.' It may be time to drive the snakes from the DNC."
The Stonewall Democrats group works closely with the DNC.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay News
New Mexico
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=16203
Domestic partnership proposal approved by House
Proposal would also recognize same-sex marriages from other states
SANTA FE (AP) | Jan 24, 4:33 PM
Gay and heterosexual couples could form domestic partnerships and enjoy thesame rights and benefits as married couples under legislation approved bythe House on Thursday.
"This is a bill about fairness and justice," said Rep. Mimi Stewart, anAlbuquerque Democrat. "This bill would offer basic legal protections tosame-sex couples unable to marry as well opposite-sex couples, many of whomare senior citizens and people with disabilities, that choose not to marryfor financial reasons."
The proposal, which is part of Gov. Bill Richardson's legislative agenda,also will recognize same-sex marriages from other states as having the legalrights as a domestic partnership in New Mexico.
The House approved the measure on a mostly party-line 33-31 vote. TwoRepublicans supported the bill and seven Democrats opposed it.
The bill goes to the Senate, where a similar domestic partnership proposalstalled last year.
more . . . . .
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Freakonomics
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/swimming-pools-and-dont-ask-dont-tell-a-guest-post/
Swimming Pools and 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': A Guest Post
By Ian Ayres
January 23, 2008, 11:40 am
With the Democrats in control of Congress, and with the prediction marketssuggesting a Democratic presidential victory, there has been a lot of talkabout ending sexual orientation discrimination in the military by repealingthe "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ("DADT") policy.
There are always two ways of ending de jure discrimination: you can levelup, or level down. In the late 1950s, the estimable city of Greensboro,N.C., operated a whites-only swimming pool. When a group of AfricanAmericans petitioned the city council to end the segregation, the councilrelented -- by closing the pool to both whites and blacks.
As such, there are also two ways to end the military's de jurediscrimination based on sexual orientation. We can either repeal DADT, or wecould extend its application to heterosexuals as well. If extended, nosoldier could talk about his or her orientation without risk of exclusion.
My own church, St. Thomas Episcopal in New Haven, tried a version of thisstrategy. In 2004, the church vestry adopted a resolution "calling for St.Thomas's clergy to treat same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples equallyin administering the sacrament of marriage," as the church Web sitedescribes it. The Bishop was not amused, and within 3 days he called anemergency meeting warning our rector, Father Michael Ray, that he riskedbeing defrocked if he performed marriage ceremonies for any same-sex couplesinside the church. Ray responded by honoring both the request of the vestryand the demands of the Bishop by announcing a moratorium on the celebrationof all marriages. The Times ran a great piece describing the event.
more . . . . .
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Science Now
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/118/3
An Eye for Sexual Orientation
By Matt Kaplan
ScienceNOW Daily News
18 January 2008
Talk about "gaydar." In just a fraction of a second, people can accuratelyjudge the sexual orientation of other individuals by glancing at theirfaces, according to new research. The finding builds on the growing theorythat the subconscious mind detects and probably guides much more of humanbehavior than is realized.
Humans are remarkably good at making snap judgments about others. In ahallmark study conducted by psychologists Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthalin 1994, people shown 2-second video clips of professors teaching formedopinions about the professors' teaching abilities that were uncannilysimilar to evaluations written by students at the end of a semester. Theresults led psychologists to begin questioning what else people might detectin a glance.
Ambady and colleague Nicholas Rule, both at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, wondered about sexual orientation. They showed men and womenphotos of 90 faces belonging to homosexual men and heterosexual men forintervals ranging from 33 milliseconds to 10 seconds. When given 100milliseconds or more to view a face, participants correctly identifiedsexual orientation nearly 70% of the time. Volunteers were less accurate atshorter durations, and their accuracy did not get better at durations beyond100 milliseconds, the team reports in an upcoming issue of the Journal ofExperimental Social Psychology. "What is most interesting is that increasedexposure time did not improve the results," says Ambady.
Romantic attraction likely works just as fast, notes psychologist PaulEastwick of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. "If people makeaccurate judgments about sexually relevant aspects of a person thisquickly," he says, "you have to stop and wonder how we size up one another'sromantic potential in a matter of milliseconds."
Psychologist David Kenny of the University of Connecticut, Storrs, says thefinding demonstrates the brain's remarkable ability to make fast yetaccurate appraisals. Still, he notes that with some of the images, accuracyregularly fell below 50%. It's possible that some faces are just hard toread.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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GLBT Center Has Grand Opening
The University's new Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center had itsgrand opening yesterday in the Talley Student Center Lobby. Approximately150 people came to celebrate the Center's opening.
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Get In the Gay Swim of Things
They have wonderful names-the Atlanta Rainbow Trout, the Queer Utah AthleticClub (QUAC), and SQUID-Swimming Queers United in Denver. They're gay andlesbian swim clubs, and they're splashing through pools around the world.
There may even be one in your own home town. These clubs are a great way tokeep in shape while making new friends and contributing to your community.
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Decisions Loom in Presidential Primaries
For gays in states with the largest gay populations, such as California,it's decision time in the 2008 presidential race. From the evidenceavailable - anecdotal and indirect - most gays are trying to choose betweenthe top two Democratic candidates - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Forthose who will consider only a Republican, the choice appears to have alsonarrowed to two - John McCain, whose record has been relatively moderate ongay-related issues, and Rudy Giuliani, whose record has been relativelysupportive but whose campaign is relying on a sort of "Hail, Mary" strategythat starts in Florida on January 29.
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Lesbian Dem Caught Up in DNC Bias Lawsuit
Add a claim of perjury to the ongoing saga of bad blood between DonaldHitchcock and the Democratic National Committee. The alleged perjuryinvolves Claire Lucas, who chairs the board of the Gay and LesbianLeadership Council at the DNC.
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WA State Legislature Has Largest Gay Caucus in U.S.
The Washington state Legislature has more gay lawmakers than any other statein the country, edging out California after a new young member was appointedto the statehouse this year.
Marko Liias, a 26-year-old Democrat from Mukilteo, started the legislativesession earlier this month, replacing former Rep. Brian Sullivan, who leftthe Legislature for the Snohomish County Council. Liias' arrival givesWashington state six openly gay lawmakers, ahead of California with five.
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Gay Rights' Group Eyes Key Races to Advance Marriage Agenda
A coalition of politically active gay rights groups will gather at aRockville Centre synagogue Wednesday night to explain its strategy to ouststate lawmakers they said have blocked legislation supporting same-sexmarriage.
Prior to the meeting, leaders of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gayrights organization, said they plan to focus on a few key Long Island races,but they declined to name the candidates involved.
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365Gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Frustrates Some Gay Leaders
(New York City) Few constituencies are as eager for the Republican Party tofalter this political season as gay-rights activists. Yet as they observethe Democratic presidential campaign and the rest of the electorallandscape, their high hopes often are mixed with frustration.
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Race A Minefield For Obama In SC
(Charleston, South Carolina) Democrat Barack Obama is walking a trickyracial line in South Carolina, openly appealing to black voters whilestriving not to be tagged as "the black candidate."
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NY Times Endorses Clinton, McCain
(New York City) The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Sens.Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain in the presidential primary race.
Also:
- Gay Marriage Advocate Kucinich Abandons White House Bid
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NYPD Now Says More Calls To Olsen Before 911
(New York City) The massage therapist's first call on finding a lifelessHeath Ledger wasn't to 911. Nor was her second. Nor her third, police nowsay.
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Will 3rd Try Be Lucky For Moscow Gays?
(Moscow) Moscow's LGBT community will make its third attempt to hold a gaypride parade in the Russian capital and this time organizers hope it will beallowed to go on.
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Bid To Impeach Gay Marriage Judge
(Des Moines, Iowa) Petitions with over 6,000 signatures were delivered tothe Iowa legislature Thursday demanding lawmaker impeach a judge who lastyear struck down a state law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.
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Court Upholds New Orleans Same-Sex Partner Benefits
(New Orleans, Louisiana) A New Orleans court has ruled that the city of NewOrleans was within its authority when it granted health benefits to domesticpartners of city employees and established a domestic partner registry forcity residents.
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Court Asked To Strike Down Gay Pension Ruling
(New York City) A New York State court was asked Thursday to strike down aruling in a long running battle over pension rights, that denied recognitionof a same-sex couple's Canadian marriage.
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Puerto Rico Gov. Won't Block Vote To Ban Gay Marriage
(San Juan, Puerto Rico) Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila says he opposesa referendum to ban same-sex marriage but he will not stand in the way ifthe island's House of Representatives approves it.
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And Now There Are Six!
(Olympia, Washington) Marko Liias has been sworn in as Washington state'snewest lawmaker - bringing to six the number of openly gay members of theLegislature.
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