GLBT DIGEST November 29, 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.

=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Gay Marriage and a Moral Minority
An analysis of why blacks voted in favor of Proposition 8, and of how their vote possibly could be swayed next time around. We now know that blacks probably didn't tip the balance for Proposition 8. Myth busted. However, the fact remains that a strikingly high percentage of blacks said they voted to ban same-sex marriage in California. Why?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29blow.html?ref=opinion

-The Prop 8 Campaign Money
California is right to look into whether the Mormon Church broke state laws by failing to report Proposition 8 campaign-related expenditures. [...] Churches, which risk their tax-exempt status if they endorse candidates, have more leeway in referendum campaigns. Still, when they enter the political fray, they have the same obligation to follow the rules that nonreligious groups do.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29sat2.html?ref=opinion

-N.Y. Democrats May Skip Gay Marriage Vote
After a pledge from New York Democratic leaders that their party would legalize same-sex marriage if they won control of the State Senate this year, money from gay rights supporters poured in from across the country, helping cinch a Democratic victory.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/nyregion/29marriage.html?hp

-Op-Ed Columnist: Gay Marriage and a Moral Minority
We now know that blacks probably didn't tip the balance for Proposition 8. Myth busted. However, the fact remains that a strikingly high percentage of blacks said they voted to ban same-sex marriage in California. Why?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29blow.html?scp=2&sq=Gay%20Marriage&st=cse

-Editorial: The Prop 8 Campaign Money
California's fair-elections commission is investigating a complaint against the Mormon Church's role in campaigning for Proposition 8, which made marriage illegal between people of the same sex. Based on the facts that have come out so far, the state is right to look into whether the church broke state laws by failing to report campaign-related expenditures.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29sat2.html?scp=1&sq=The%20Prop%208&st=cse


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

-Don't Be Blue, Red America; This won't hurt a bit
Now that Barack Obama has won the presidency after a long and divisive campaign, it is time to start binding the country's wounds. Liberals like me have a duty to "reach out" to the other side, particularly to rural conservative white men, whose opposition to Obama was most intense and who seemed to have the most misgivings about the cultural and political direction of an Obama presidency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112101753.html

-Gay Officials Who Blazed Trails
Post staff writer Ann Hornaday is not the only one recently to assert that Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States ["By Delivering Poignant Depth, 'Milk' Hits the Stirring Heights," Style, Nov. 26]. Milk was the first openly gay person elected in California, in November 1977, but Allan Spear was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1972. Spear came out in 1974 and was reelected in 1976. He served for 28 years and retired in 2000. The last seven years of his time in office, he served as president of the Senate. Spear passed away this past Oct. 11, which was ironic since the date is National Coming Out Day.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802576.html


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Obama White House won't change 'values' on same-sex marriage right away
The president-elect, and his wife, America's new "mom-in-chief," decided to put their girls in private school. It's the best "fit for what the daughters need right now," they say. The girls, the first preteens to occupy the White House in a while, will get their puppy in the spring, and they're OK with that. The youngest of the two, following their first tour of their new home, says she believes studying on the desk once used by Abraham Lincoln might be inspiring.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-dlcol29sbnov29,0,6259679.column

-AIDS Day events to be health reminders, for some South Floridians especially
Activists set to emphasize that safe sex practices and getting tested for HIV remain vital, especially for some South Floridians
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sfl-flrxaidsday1129sbnov29,0,3960079.story

-Rosie's TV show is really too much Rosie, really
Two words: Dancing food.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/sfl-1128-rosie-new-show,0,1120192.story


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

-Wanda Sykes Comes Out at Prop. 8 Rally
Comedian and actress Wanda Sykes officially came out this weekend, announcing to the estimated crowd of 1,000 gathered in Las Vegas at one of the many rallies for gay rights taking place around the country on Saturday that she's gay, and that she legally married her wife in California on Oct. 25.
http://www.365gay.com/news/wanda-sykes-comes-out-at-prop-8-rally/


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

-Health ambassador sacked for standing by anti-gay comments
Australia's Health Minister Nicola Roxon has dismissed one of the new Men's Health Ambassadors for co-authoring an anti-gay, anti-transgender report. Warwick Marsh, president of Fatherhood Foundation, was one of 34 co-authors of 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters, a report which calls homosexuality a mental disorder.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9707.html

-Trevor Phillips: "We can't allow a spiral of silence on homophobic bullying to continue"
Last night a charity that works with the victims of homophobic and transphobic bullying was honoured with a parliamentary reception. At the event EACH launched its new online reporting service. The guest speaker was Trevor Phillips, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9705.html

-Online reporting service for homophobic bullying "needs your money"
A charity for young people and adults affected by homophobia launched its newly refurbished website and online reporting service yesterday with an appeal for funds. EACH runs a national free Actionline, provides training to many organisations and helps the victims of homophobic or transphobic incidents.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9704.html

-'Ladyboy' protests amid Thailand's political chaos
The ever increasing turbulence of the anti-government protests notwithstanding, a demonstration of a different nature was taking place yesterday in Bangkok. Unaffiliated to any political party, a group of transgender 'ladyboys' paraded past central Police Headquarters in Bangkok to protest at the lack of AIDS awareness in Thailand.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9702.html

-Gay penguin couple accused of stealing eggs from straights
A pair of gay penguins has been stealing eggs from straight couples in an attempt to become 'fathers'. The three-year-old male penguins who are kept in Polar Land in Harbin, north-east China attempted to conceal their theft by placing stones at the feet of the parents before waddling away with their eggs.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9701.html


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

-A Pioneer's Life Richly Rendered:
Sheila Rowbotham offers the comprehensive, critical, contextualized biography Edward Carpenter deserves
EDWARD CARPENTER:
A LIFE OF LIBERTY AND LOVE
When Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) broke free of the stifling world of upper-class Victorian England into which he was born, his rejection of its cosseted, impossibly mannered life was total. In his time, he became the most famous apostle of a wide-ranging revolt against sexual hypocrisy and the straightjacket of class divisions in human interpersonal relations. And Carpenter's courageous contributions over a long life made him one of the most important precursors of gay liberation, one whose influence spanned countries and continents. Carpenter and his working-class lover of 37 years, George Merrill, became one of history's most celebrated same-sex couples, on a par with Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais or with Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy. Yet despite his well-known defense of homosexuality, Carpenter was one of the most beloved figures of British socialism, so much so that on his 80th birthday in 1924, 43 years before same-sex relations were legalized in the United Kingdom, the entire Cabinet of the first Labour Party government, led by Carpenter's old friend Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, signed a profuse tribute to him.
http://gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20208425&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=569342&rfi=6


-The new issue of the Gay & Lesbian Humanist is now online
www.gayandlesbianhumanist.org

-Iran's gay exiles seek help in Turkey
ISTANBUL - Gays, lesbians and transsexuals suffer discrimination throughout the world, but in Iran, the difficulties are compounded by the government's denial of their very existence. Iran's gay exiles seek help in Turkey "There are no gays in Iran" was the statement made in New York last year by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in response to a question on the difficulties gays faced in Iran. It was met with incredulous smiles from the American audience he was addressing, but certainly could not have been more hurtful to the gays of his country.
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10466609.asp?gid=244


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

-HIV diagnoses in European MSM have almost doubled since 2000, UK tops the list
Data from 23 European countries show that the annual number of HIV diagnoses in men who have sex with men (MSM) has increased by 86% between 2000 and 2006, report epidemiologists in the November 2008 issue of Sexually Transmitted Infections. The United Kingdom is the country with the highest number of new diagnoses in Europe, but dramatic increases were also seen in low prevalence countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/677BC331-761F-4C05-97AC-C3714A6D32BB.asp?type=preview


=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-UK: A lesbian soldier has won almost £200,000 compensation after being subjected to a lewd campaign of sexual harassment by a male sergeant.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1089685/Lesbian-soldier-pestered-sex-male-boss-wins-obscene-200-000-payout.html

-The First Iranian Queer Radio Has Been Broadcasted
Dear Friends,
We proudly announce that the first Iranian queer radio called RAHA has been re-broadcasted. RAHA means "Liberated" which started to broadcast from April 2005. Its aim was to deliver the message of Iranian queer population nation wide. Due to some technical difficulty the radio has been off for a while. But now we are back again with new team, new mottos, and new goals. We are a group of Iranian queers who decided to work on this project in order to express and prove that "We Do Exist" With especial thanks to IRanian Queer Railroad - IRQR for being with us in the all steps of this broadcast.
Radio Raha Team
www.radioraha.net


=
Pink Choice November Newsletter
Based on traffic to the site and the user reviews that we have received over the past month, our current top 10 destinations are:
[Links to each destination are at the website posted below]
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
San Francisco, California
Palm Springs, California
New York, New York
Chicago, Illinois
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Montreal, Quebec
Los Angeles, California
If your favorite destination is not on this list tell us about it by posting a review.
http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/261098/324d153b44/1277002309/cb5ce454fd/


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 29, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Mumbai Terrorist Siege Over, India Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/world/asia/30mumbai.html?_r=1&hp

-Putting a Face on Big Auto
BOB HERBERT
"Ripple effect" is too mild a term for the potentially devastating impact of a collapse among the Big Three automakers.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html

-Medicare's Too Costly Private Plans
Congress must remove unjustified subsidies to inefficient private health insurance plans that have added to the cost and complexity of the Medicare
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29sat1.html?ref=opinion

-What They Hate About Mumbai
Mumbai, India, stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness. And this way of life appalls religious extremists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29mehta.html?ref=opinion

-Mr. Bush and the Pardon Power
The presidential power to pardon was never intended to be a
get-out-of-jail-free card for people close to the president who stretched, bent or broke the law.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29sat3.html?ref=opinion

-More Men Take the Lead Role in Caring for Elderly Parents
Even as they make up nearly 40 percent of family care providers now, men are less likely to ask for help to cope.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/29sons.html?hp

-Lévi-Strauss at 100
France celebrated Claude Lévi-Strauss's centenary with films, lectures and free admission to the museum he inspired.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/books/29levi.html?8dpc

-Egyptian-Born Scientist Leaves U.S. After Losing Suit
An Egyptian-born nuclear physicist who said his rights were violated when the Department of Energy revoked his security clearance has returned to his native Egypt. The scientist, Abdel Moniem Ali el-Ganayni, had filed a lawsuit in June saying he was being punished for criticizing the Iraq war and President Bush's treatment of Muslims after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The lawsuit was dismissed Tuesday by Judge Terrence F. McVerry of Federal District Court here. The Energy Department said it had reliable information that Dr. Ganayni was a security risk, but the agency said its reasons were classified and could violate national security if they were made public.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/29scientist.html


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

-Trouble for Pakistan
The attacks in India could undo its neighbor's progress, and perhaps bring war.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802368.html

-How to Save Newspapers
After listening to readers for three years, I have some suggestions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802250.html

-Massacre in Mumbai
To preserve their region's peace, India and Pakistan must work together against terrorism.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802068.html

-Step Aside, Rep. Rangel
The chairman of Ways and Means becomes an unnecessary distraction.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802519.html

-Siege in Mumbai Ends
Probe Eyes Pakistani Militants
Groups based in neighboring nation become focus as Indian authorities ramp up accusations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802823.html?hpid=topnews

-PHOTOS: Gunmen Attack Tourist Areas in India
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/11/26/GA2008112603190.html?hpid=artslot


=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us

-Seeking a Presidential Pardon? Try Praising the Right to Bear Arms
Five Forgiven by Bush Share a Trait: They Really Missed Their Weapons
A decade ago, Leslie Collier, a 50-year-old corn and soybean farmer in Charleston, Mo., pleaded guilty to poisoning bald eagles. He says the worst thing about his criminal record was that it meant he was barred by law from owning a gun.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122790763963865173.html


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

-Battle Royale: Center-Right Versus Center-Left In the Democratic Party
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/29/battle-royale-center-righ_n_147072.html

-Bush says he leaves White House with values intact
With his second term in office coming to an end, President Bush said he is proud that he "did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process."
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-says-he-leaves-white-house-with-values-intact-2008-11-28.html

-5 Great Progressive Columnists' Advice and Ideas on the Coming Obama Era
The following are five recent articles by AlterNet columnists on the issues Obama and his supporters face during the presidential transition.
...Amy Goodman: How Obama Can Help Redeem the White House
On Inauguration Day, Obama could outlaw torture. It would be a tribute to those slaves who built his new home, the White House.
...Sean Gonsalves: Obama's Opening Moves
Now is the time to mobilize so we can establish the style, pace and structure of Obama's presidency.
...Robert Scheer:Cold War Hawks Hovering Around Obama
Why are Obama's closest advisers inveterate hawks who needlessly provoked tension with the Russians during the Cold War?
...Norman Solomon: Corporate Media Try to Scare Obama Into Betraying Progressives Bill Clinton's alleged lurch to the left in '92 is being used to push Obama to the right.
Problem is, it never happened.
...David Sirota: Why Are We Shocked By Obama's Centrism?
Obama's 'grass-roots' movement revolves around him, not progressive issues.
http://www.alternet.org/election08/109072/5_great_progressive_columnists%27_advice_and_ideas_on_the_coming_obama_era/

-Junk-bond king among those seeking Bush pardon
Some high-profile convicts past and present are among more than 2,000 people asking President George W. Bush to pardon them or commute their prison sentences before he leaves office. Junk-bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black and American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh have applied to the Justice Department seeking official forgiveness.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/29/junk_bond_king_among_those_seeking_bush_pardon/

-Ignorance deficit America's worst enemy
BY CAL THOMAS
While Congress spends -- and plans to spend -- like the proverbial drunken sailor to ''bailout'' various industries for practices that are largely their fault and the fault of those in Congress who were supposed to provide oversight, another deficit looms, which is at least as troubling as the economic one. [...] The report is at www.isi.org. Read it and weep. And then demand of yourself and others that something be done to fix the intellectual deficit.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/791840.html


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 29, 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.

~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

WORLD AIDS DAY COMMUNITY EVENT
1988 - 2008
WORLD AIDS DAY COMMUNITY EVENT
DECEMBER 1 - 3PM UNTIL 7PM
Huizenga Park (32 East Las Olas Blvd)
Corner of Andrews and Las Olas Blvd
AFTERNOON OF HOPE 3:00PM
EVENING OF REMBERANCE 5:00PM
Performance by the Imani Praise Dancers
A special message from Wayne Huizenga, Jr.
Special Performance by Natalie Young
Presentation of: Footsteps in the Sand Awards
The AIDS Memorial Quilt
Candlelight Vigil


=
Steve Rothaus
www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Women's White Party Week schedule
Pandora Events and Carmen Benard present
The Women's White Party Week
South Beach-Miami
November 26-30th 2008
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

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

-Upper Keys solar energy experiment begins
The Florida Keys Electric Cooperative Association began producing green energy, using sunshine to power the equivalent of 13 homes for a year.
http://www.miamiherald.com/505/story/791865.html


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

-Raises for Florida's university presidents keep coming amid 15 percent tuition hikes, budget constraints
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/28/prez-perks-boost-tuition/


=

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

GLBT DIGEST November 28, 2008

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


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

-'Milk': A Hero With a Human Side
Once in a while, a movie arrives at such a perfect moment, its message and meaning so finely tuned to the current zeitgeist, that it seems less a cinematic event than a cosmic convergence, willed into being by a once-in-a-lifetime alignment of the stars. Such are the goose bumps induced by "Milk," Gus Van Sant's vivid, affecting portrait of Harvey Milk, who in 1978 joined the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as the first openly gay man to be elected to American public office. Just nine months later, he was assassinated by former fellow board member Dan White, who also murdered San Francisco mayor George Moscone. The list of things "Milk" gets right is a long one. But the first item has to be Sean Penn, who virtually disappears into his character, burying any trace of native mannerism or accent and emerging as a wholly convincing New York Jewish boy made good.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112601531.html


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Election loss, new film put fresh spin on Harvey Milk's legacy 30 years after assassination
There are parallels between the gay rights battle of Milk's time and today. Defeating a ballot measure - a ban on openly gay teachers in public schools - was the apex of Milk's short career. And now, with passage of California's ban on gay marriage, activists re-examining Milk's legacy are questioning whether an outsized political leader could have made the difference this time. [...] David Mixner, who co-managed the campaign against the teachers ban, said same-sex couples might still have the right to wed in California if today's leaders had been less polite. "It wasn't that Harvey was universally loved back then," Mixner said. "He was a hard-core player and at times he was difficult to love, but ... damn, did I respect him."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-remembering-milk,0,713320.story


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

-Florida: Bias blinds DCF to these parents' good
OUR OPINION: Agency should follow its own credo: Put children first
When stripped of all its emotional and legal baggage, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman's decision Tuesday allowing a North Miami man to adopt two foster children boils down to this: She did what was best for the children. It is too bad -- and in this case, a tragic miscalculation -- that the Department of Children & Families doesn't see the issue this way. The DCF, which claims as its mantra to always act in the best interest of children, has unwisely decided to stand against allowing two loving parents to continue caring for two damaged boys whom they have painstakingly nurtured to good health. Instead, the DCF has asked the state attorney general's office to appeal the decision, which challenges Florida's ban on adoption by gays. Instead of standing up for the well-being of children, the DCF embraces Florida's position of state-supported bias against gays. [...] No longer neglected - More's the pity, because in appealing the case, the DCF argues that gay men and women are less capable parents because they are more likely to suffer with mental illnesses, substance abuse or other ailments than are heterosexuals. Those contentions were thoroughly debunked by expert witnesses whose testimony Judge Lederman found more believable than DCF's witnesses. [...] Qualified parents - Over time, the boys blossomed under the care of Mr. Gill -- a college-educated, licensed foster parent -- and his partner. The couple has three other children. The DCF's bias against gays is made plain by its commendable willingness to help and encourage most people who want to adopt, including single adults, unmarried couples, couples who never plan to marry, disabled people, chronically ill people or those who are HIV-positive. The agency does not automatically exclude felons or people with criminal records, including someone who has abused, abandoned or neglected a child. ''The most important factor in ensuring a welladjusted child is the quality of parenting,'' Judge Lederman said. That should be the DCF's policy.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/790513.html

-More indigenous Guatemalans turn to sex work, stoking HIV fears
As more indigenous women migrate to cities to be sex workers, health officials in Guatemala fear they will bring diseases back to their villages.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/front-page/story/790525.html


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

-Malaysia's fatwa council explains how 'tomboys' become lesbians
A Malaysian religious leader has spoken for the first time in detail about the ramifications of the fatwa passed last month that ruled against women indulging in activities deemed as 'masculine,' including lesbian sex and dressing like a man.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9694.html

-Estimated HIV infections among gay men in China rises to 5% in three years
A new survey of gay men in China has found that 4.9% are living with HIV. In 2005 the figure was 0.4%. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the survey questioned more than 18,000 gay men in 61 Chinese cities.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9699.html

-Comment: Gay judge reflects on thirty years as an out lawyer
Earlier this month, Queen Mary, University of London, launched a specialist legal advice centre for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people. The Pink Law Legal Advice Centre, the first of its kind in higher education, has been established in partnership with three top City law firms and will offer free and impartial legal advice on issue such as employment discrimination, civil partnerships and cohabitation.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9698.html

-Writers create pro-gay 'Princess Diana' bible
Film-maker Max Mitchell has announced plans to publish a pro gay translation of The Bible to be called 'The Princess Diana Bible'. Revision Studios in New Mexico, USA will fund the new translation of the Bible, in which God says it is better to be gay than straight.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9697.html

-Rugby league join gay workplace equality scheme
The decision of the Rugby Football League to join the Diversity Champions Programme run by gay equality organisation Stonewall has been hailed as a major breakthrough. The league becomes the first national governing body of a major sport to join the scheme.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9696.html

-Polish Catholics boycott IKEA over catalogue "promoting" homosexuality
Catholics in Poland are calling for a boycott of furniture retailer IKEA because its catalogue features pictures of same-sex couples. National newspapers and news websites have covered the story and the concerns of some religious people that the Swedish company is "trampling" on Christian concepts of family.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9693.html

-HIV-positive man faces jail sentence for deliberately infecting partners
A judge in Victoria, Australia said that an HIV-positive grandfather from Melbourne preyed on "vulnerable" gay men when he tried to infect them with the virus.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9691.html


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 28, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-India's Suspicion of Pakistan Clouds U.S. Strategy in Region
The attacks seem likely to sour Indian-Pakistani relations and hamper, at least for now, U.S. goals for reconciliation in the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/asia/28diplo.html?_r=1&hp

-Lest We Forget
PAUL KRUGMAN
The story of how we failed to see this coming has a clear policy implication - that financial market reform should be pressed quickly, and that it should not wait until the crisis is resolved.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/opinion/28krugman.html?ref=opinion

-Stimulus for Skeptics
DAVID BROOKS
Until we endure some fundamental adjustments in housing prices and consumption, no federal sugar rush is going to restore economic health. But that's not a recipe for doing nothing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/opinion/28brooks.html?ref=opinion

-Guilty Verdict in Cyberbullying Case Provokes Many Questions Over Online Identity
Is lying about one's identity on the Internet now a crime? [...] The woman, Lori Drew, posed as a teenage boy in using the account to send first friendly and then menacing messages to Megan Meier, 13, who killed herself shortly after receiving a message in October 2006 that said in part, "The world would be a better place without you."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/us/28internet.html

-New Smokeless Tobacco Worries Experts
Available in three flavors and packaged in attractive tins, Snus does not have to be spit out and therefore can be used just about anywhere -- "at a concert, right in front of security guards," "on a jet from Miami to L.A.," or at an "overpriced tapas restaurant," a promotional brochure suggests. And Snus delivers a powerful dose of nicotine: eight milligrams in each pouch, a spokesman for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which manufacturers Snus, acknowledged on Wednesday. A pouch amounts to a single dose.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/health/27nicotine.html


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

-A Fannie-Freddie Fix
In Lawrence Summers, the president-elect has found the right person to reform the mortgage giants.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/27/AR2008112702105.html

-Attributes of Attacks in India Suggest Outside Help
Despite Claim, Still Too Soon to Know Who Masterminded Attack Sophistication and targets involved are markedly different from previous terrorist plots in India; officials eye Islamist networks as culprits.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/27/AR2008112702177.html?hpid=topnews


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

-Obama earning nation's confidence
SDEROT, Israel -- When Candidate Barack Obama visited this emotionally frayed Israeli town last summer, he made the kind of statement that Israelis crave, speaking in deeply personal terms about the country's plight. In this case, he was referring to the struggle of Sderot, which Palestinians in Gaza have targeted during eight years of almost daily rocket fire, and the dilemma of authorities seeking to protect the people. ''If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night,'' Obama said, ``I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/790522.html


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 28, 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.


~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Fort Lauderdale candidate kicks off campaign against Charlotte Rodstrom
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/11/fort_lauderdale_candidate_kick.html

-Compass: Gay-lesbian group moves headquarters in Lake Worth
New center in Lake Worth scheduled to open in March
Compass, the gay and lesbian advocacy group, has moved its headquarters into temporary offices in Lake Worth and is spending $1.5 million to renovate the former Mid-County Senior Center building on North Dixie Highway. Scheduled to open in March, the 12,000-square-foot Compass Community Center will be almost triple the size of the nonprofit organization's former headquarters in West Palm Beach. Compass sold its former headquarters at 7600 S. Dixie Highway to The Lord's Place, a nonprofit group that assists the homeless and plans a thrift store there. City commissioners last year approved a $1,000-a-year lease for just under 20 years to Compass for the community center at 201 N. Dixie Highway. Since early November, Compass has been operating from temporary offices at 23 South H St. and from a few smaller offices in downtown Lake Worth.

-Let gays adopt
Nobody writes about Florida's law that prohibits gay adoption. In Florida, a gay couple can foster a child but is not allowed to adopt. It is about time Florida becomes a state that stops being so narrow-minded and becomes modern with modern ideas. There are good and bad parents all over the world, married and not married.
Barbara Mazel, Boynton Beach
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-pmail655pnnov27,0,3273560.story


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

-Welcome to White Party Weekend 2008
Headline event for South Florida GLBT
Thanksgiving weekend means more in South Florida than just turkey and stuffing: it's White Party Weekend,with events for everybody!
...Friday Highlights: Gods of War leather party, White Dreams at Space
...Saturday Highlights: Heatwave Pool Party; White Party headline event at Vizcaya
...Sunday Highlight: Muscle Beach, Finale parties at Twist and Discotekka
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22669


-Fallen officer an active part of GLBT community
Alex Del Rio remembered as a devoted officer and great friend
Alex Del Rio, the 31-year-old Hollywood police officer who was killed in a fiery crash on Sheridan Street in Hollywood Nov. 22, lived out of the closet, but he did not wear his sexual identity on his sleeve. He may have identified as bisexual, but he was just like all the other officers. He loved fast cars, he loved watching the Miami Dolphins and he was highly committed to serving the public. Derick Pitts was among Del Rio's best friends. He said Del Rio was always alarmingly aware of the dangers he faced in police work. Pitts said Del Rio had told him he always wore his bulletproof vest because he always expected to be shot by a motorist during a traffic stop. "I was prepared for that kind of call," Pitts said. "I was not prepared for what happened." Del Rio was killed when he lost control of his Crown Victoria, slammed into a tree and burst into flames.
http://www.floridablade.com/2008/11-26/news/localnews/5304.cfm


=
Anthony Niedwiecki for Oakland Park City Commission Campaign
Come to a Holiday Homes Tour After-Party!
Oakland Park Main Street is hosting a "Holiday Homes Tour" on Saturday December 6. The tour will feature homes around the City of Oakland Park that are decorated for the Holiday Season. After the tour, Anthony will open his house for a campaign fundraiser to celebrate the holidays with friends, neighbors, and supporters.
Saturday December 6, 2008 - 6:00-8:00 pm
At the home of Anthony Niedwiecki and Waymon Hudson
5280 NE 1st Terrace
Oakland Park, FL 33334
(Suggested donation between $20 and $250)
Come enjoy food, drinks, and Holiday Cheer!
We will be collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to a local food bank for the holiday season. Please bring what you can. Hope to see you there!
RSVP at (954) 319-5249 or email anthony@anthony09.com
Visit www.Anthony09.com for more details!


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

-Loving parents
In the Nov. 25 online story Miami judge rules against Florida gay adoption ban, attorney John Stemberger said that, ''Children do better with a mother and a father.'' He should retract that comment. The children of divorced parents are doing just fine. My son has done well, and his father and I were divorced when he was just a baby. My son has not suffered from the split and has not lost out on anything in his life. There are many families with both mothers and fathers present that have dysfunctional children. Stemberger is exaggerating the benefit of so-called regular families with both mothers and fathers. Why don't they step in, as Frank Gill and his partner did, and adopt? How can Gill be allowed to be a foster parent, but not an adoptive parent? Children need loving families, which come in different colors, sizes and genders. Bravo to those who have stepped up and taken the responsibility to be parents to children who need them.
ANABELLE McELROY, Winston-Salem, NC
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters/story/790518.html


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-In Florida, New Condos on the Block
GIVEN how tough it is to sell a single condominium in Florida these days, what does it take to sell dozens of them in less than two hours?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/greathomesanddestinations/28auctions.html


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

-Broward schools must tap reserves
The latest round of Broward school budget cuts will require using some of the district's financial reserves.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/790539.html

-Efficient cars in Florida
BY DAVID GUEST
On Tuesday, Florida has the chance to take a major step forward toward energy independence. That's the day the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission votes on Gov. Charlie Crist's common-sense proposal to make cars run cleaner.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/790523.html


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

-CFO Sink call for shift from real estate-based economy
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Florida's only Democratic elected executive officer, discussed the state of Florida's economy in a breakfast with reporters from the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald. The former bank executive has begun calling banks on behalf of the Florida Home Builders Association, which has pleaded for a "timeout" from banks calling in builders' construction loans. The cratering of the construction and credit markets is all the more reason why Florida must continue to diversify its economic base, she said, and end its reliance on real estate. She cited the wildly overbuilt Fort Myers, now one of the foreclosure capitals of the world. "There's nothing else there, except for Chico's," she said.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article917196.ece


=

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

GLBT DIGEST November 27, 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.


=
~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~
=

Happy Thanksgiving!!

=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-The Plight of Gay Veterans
To the Editor:
One group of veterans who face added but avoidable economic distress are the thousands of gay men and lesbians who serve their country but cannot avail themselves of military benefits for their families. Because of "don't ask, don't tell," these Americans are limited in which family members they can even list on military paperwork, resulting in forfeited benefits that are available to their peers. Making the policy even more stupid, the United States has spent an estimated half a billion dollars since 1994 enforcing the unnecessary ban on open gays, money the troops deserve to have spent on them.
Nathaniel Frank
Santa Barbara, Calif., Nov.
(more)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/opinion/lweb27vets.html?sq=gay&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=print


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

-Debating California's Proposition 8
Regarding Stephen Stromberg's Nov. 24 op-ed column, "Mormons' Uneasy Victory": Since when does defending the traditional family (in which one man is married to one woman and they raise their children together) mean being "outside the mainstream"? Where I live, that is the mainstream.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112603753.html

-Out for Obama: Gay Rights Group Plans Mega Inaugural Shindig
The "Out for Equality" ball (though its gay-rights organizers don't want to call it a ball) is shaping up to be one of the single hottest tickets on inauguration night. And you don't have to be L, G, B or T to want in on this action.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/11/_laupers_website_cindilauperne.html


=
Steve Rothaus
www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-White Party Week Video Guide 2008
A guide to events and parties hosted by Mario Trejo of Twist:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us

-Gay Marriage and the California Courts
Democracy loses if Prop. 8 is overruled. If it walks like a culture war, squawks like a culture war, and has all the ugliness of a culture war, surely it is a culture war -- right? Maybe not. It's true that we've seen some wild things in the days since California voters approved Proposition 8 -- a measure on the state ballot prohibiting same-sex marriage. We've had the burning of the Book of Mormon. The mailing of envelopes filled with white powder to Mormon temples. And activists marching on Mormon churches with signs and shouts of "hate" and "bigot" directed at anyone who might have a difference of opinion.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122757137423754669.html


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

-An insider's guide to South Beach
Skip the tourist traps during White Party Weekend Welcome to another edition of South Florida Blade. In the coming week we welcome thousands of guests to our corner of the globe: this weekend is Thanksgiving, which means in South?Florida, it's time for the White Party. Come one, come all. The White Party is a major fundraiser for Care Resource, the largest HIV/AIDS organization in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. Most of the party revelers are local regulars, but the event draws visitors. For those who may be new to the area, we here at the Blade have compiled our "insider's guide" to navigating the wilds of South Beach. The White Party events will keep you busy; you won't have time for everything. But this is a good guide in general, should you ever come back. Here we go:
http://www.floridablade.com/2008/11-26/view/editorial/5310.cfm


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

-60 percent in Iowa support gay couple rights
A majority of Iowans support gay couples, but are divided on whether they should be allowed to marry or have civil unions. Two weeks before the Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments in a challenge to the state's ban on same-sex marriage, a new poll indicates a majority of people in the state support gay couples, but are divided on whether they should be allowed to marry or have civil unions.
http://www.365gay.com/news/60-percent-in-iowa-support-gay-couple-rights/

-Federal lawsuit filed over HIV+ student bullying
(Indianapolis, Indiana) A school district in the state where HIV-positive Ryan White fought for the right to attend classes two decades ago is being sued by the family of a 14-year-old girl who says she was bullied so badly over her positive status that she left school.
http://www.365gay.com/news/federal-lawsuit-filed-over-hiv-student-bullying/


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

-Olbermann and Candace Gingrich Talk Proposition 8
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann talked to Candace Gingrich, the lesbian sister of conservative stalwart Newt Gingrich, Tuesday night on Countdown With Keith Olbermann. In the opening segment, Olbermann discussed a recently released poll from Survey USA indicating that 8% of California voters who had voted to ban same-sex marriage had changed their mind on the measure following nationwide protests that ensued. The poll had a +/- 4.3% margin of error for that specific question. The margin by which the gay marriage ban passed was just over 4 points.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid67230.asp

-Same-Sex Marriage in New York a Complicated Affair
Gay rights advocates in New York thought same-sex marriage was a done deal after the Democrats captured a majority in the state legislature November 4, with Gov. David Paterson already having said he would sign gay marriage legislation if it landed on his desk.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid67244.asp

-Democratic Supermajority No Guarantee for Gay Progress
The 2008 election may already be one for the record books, but triumphant Democrats are still vying for an elusive political prize -- the 60-seat supermajority required to overcome Republican filibuster attempts and advance their legislative agenda swiftly beginning in January. But what are the odds of actually getting 60 seats -- and will it really push gay rights to the front of the line?
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid66842.asp


=
National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Why the Marriage
Amendment Mattered to Florida
The wrath of Amendment 2 coming to a gay household near you
By Norm Kent, Publisher,
In 1997, the Florida legislature enacted Florida Statute 741.212, which banned marriages between persons of the same sex. Section 3 of that law even reads that for the purposes of interpreting the statute, 'marriage' would mean only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. With that law in effect, a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was clearly redundant and unnecessary. So why did they do it? Because your enemies do not just want you down and out. They want to stomp on your throat.


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

-"European Commissioner shocked; set to discuss Burundi legislation with the government."
On 26 November, at the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Port Moresby, the President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights Michael Cashman MEP condemned the newly adopted law in Burundi which criminalises sexual relations between consenting same-sex adults. He raised the issue directly with the European Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michael and called upon the European Commission to raise the issue with Burundi government. "The Commissioner expressed that he was shocked to learn of this law and stressed that this is a very serious issue. He told the Assembly he will travel to Burundi and discuss his concerns with the government." said Michael Cashman. In his intervention, Michael Cashman also stressed that this is a concern for the human rights of homosexuals in many countries, where rights are not respected or upheld and Burundi is just the latest example of pernicious legislation.
http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/news.php


=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-Open for Service by Nathaniel Frank
Why, when Barack Obama decides to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," he'll have a much easier time of it than Bill Clinton did in 1993.
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=501d23ba-e4b1-4e70-ae15-03d05ef546d1

-Young evangelist attacked by angry homosexual
The case of an assault against a young Christian by a homosexual in San Francisco is garnering national headlines.
On November 14, Promised Land Fellowship church sent 13 members to the Castro District of San Francisco, a neighborhood known for its large homosexual population. The young people gathered at a street corner, joined hands, and began singing "Amazing Grace." During an interview on Fox network's The O'Reilly Factor, Christine Cloud described the group's intentions. "We are not trying to convert gay people into straight people, but we are down there telling them about Jesus Christ in hopes that they would have that revelation," she explains.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=333368

-California: Head of Festival Quits
The director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Richard Raddon, has resigned after the revelation that he donated money to support a ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/26brfs-HEADOFFESTIV_BRF.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y


=
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/

-Ann Coulter's jaw wired shut! We're sooo sad....
Page Six is reporting that right-wing agitator and controversy-seeker Ann Coulter's jaw is wired tightly shut. I know, I know. If the report is true, It's almost as if our prayers have been answered. Apparently it was broken, but by whom, no one seems to be sure. We could hazard a guess, but why throw roses yet. The blogosphere is already aquiver over the idea of a forced Coulter Moment of Silence. Finally, the Right Wing Barbie Doll has to shut up. This is, after all, the woman who called 2004 VP nominee John Edwards the F-word in 2007 while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab ifyou use the 'gay hate word' " so I'm -- so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards, so I think I'll just conclude here and take your questions." The rehab reference was a right-wing joke (and we use the term loosely) about actor Isaiah Washington using that word for his "Grey's Anatomy" co-star T.R. Knight and been forced by the network to undergo psychological treatment. But her unfunny comments drew criticism from all fields, Democrats, Republicans and gay rights groups. But here's the best part about the Coulter broken jaw news. No really, this is really good: Seems she has a brand new book titled "GUILTY" due out in early January and, of course, was all booked on TV and radio talk shows to discuss the "much-needed reality check on a Left gone wild," declares the book's jacket. Her latest work reportedly exposes and mocks the media's love affair with all things Democrat and all things President-elect Barack Obama. Too bad Ann won't be able to say a word about her new book.That's just a gosh darn shame.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/11/oh-dear-page-si.html


=
Anything but Straight
http://www.waynebesen.com/

-The Future of Religion In America
By Wayne Besen
On Sunday, New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof discussed religious and cultural extremism in Pakistan, where a new cabinet member, Israr Ullah Zardari, defended the torture-murder of five women and girls who were buried alive (three girls wanted to choose their own husbands, and two women wanted to protect them.) The Times had another article on Monday about an all-girl rock band in Saudi Arabia that is forbidden from playing live concerts because of their gender. At home, former Arkansas governor and pastor, Mike Huckabee, appeared on ABC's "The View" and said that gay and lesbian equality was not the same as civil rights because homosexuals have not had their skulls cracked and were not hosed down by police. Apparently, he is unaware of the latest FBI hate crime statistics that show bias attacks based on sexual orientation making up 15.5 percent of all reported hate crimes. In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI is being criticized this week for questioning the usefulness of Interfaith dialogue in a letter he wrote to Italian politician Marcello Pera. What the Pope fails to point out is that thanks to intransigent absolutists, like the pontiff, finding common ground is nearly impossible.
http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/11/future-of-religion-in-america.html


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

-Prop 8 involvement a P.R. fiasco for LDS Church
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Although they live a continent away from California, LDS Church members Gregory and JaLynn Prince, of Washington, D.C., still have felt the backlash from their church's involvement in the traditional marriage initiative known as Proposition 8. Their daughter, Lauren, a Boston University student, has lost friends over the issue, while their son, an LDS missionary in San Bernardino, Calif., has had a disproportionate number of potential converts cancel appointments.

-Art Leonard: The Florida Adoption Opinion from Miami-Dade
Source: Leonard Link
by Arthur S. Leonard
Full text by permission. Source retains copyright.
Here's the draft I've submitted to Gay City News for this week's issue: For the second time in just a few months, a Florida trial judge has ruled that the state's statutory ban against adoption of children by "a homosexual" is unconstitutional. Ruling on November 25 on an adoption petition by Frank Martin Gill, a North Miami man, to adopt half-brothers John and James, age 8 and 4, for whom he has served as a foster parent together with his partner for the past four years, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy S. Lederman held that the statutory ban violates the equal protection requirement of the Florida constitution and directly contradicts the state's articulated policy of seeking "permanent placements" for children. In the Matter of the Adoption of John Doe and James Doe, [Case No. Redacted] (Fla. 11th Dist. Cir. Ct., Nov. 25, 2008).

-Art Leonard: Will Florida Officials Flunk the Intelligence Test and Persist in Defending Their Gay Adoption Ban?
Source: Leonard Link
by Arthur S. Leonard
Full text by permission. Source retains copyright.
Florida state officials have been handed a basic intelligence test by Circuit Court Judge Cindy S. Lederman in Miami-Dade County, who ruled this morning that the state's statutory ban on "homosexuals" adopting children is unconstitutional and in basic conflict with the state's own statutorily articulated goal of achieving permanent placements for children who are wards of the state, preferably through adoption.


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

-Sir Elton and David donate £20k to Liberal Democrats
Pop legend Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish are among a list of donors to the Liberal Democrats published yesterday by the Electoral Commission.

-Burundi activists seek internal solution to new law on homosexual acts
HIV groups in the African nation of Burundi have met with the country's health minister to discuss parliamentary moves to criminalise homosexual acts.

-Serbian government funds LGBT information website
The Ministry of Culture in Serbia has given financial support to an online news website dedicated to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and transgender population within the country and the Serbian Diaspora.

-HIV-positive man faces jail sentence for deliberately infecting partners
A judge in Victoria, Australia said that an HIV-positive grandfather from Melbourne preyed on "vulnerable" gay men when he tried to infect them with the virus.

-Graham Norton to join La Cage Aux Folles next year
TV presenter and comedian Graham Norton is to take the role of Albin in the London stage production of La Cage Aux Folles.

-Boy George's rent-boy "sexed up" false imprisonment story, court told
The male escort who claims that Boy George falsely imprisoned him wanted to be placed in hand cuffs and "sexed up" his story a court has heard.

-Cyprus grants resident status to gay Iranian asylum seeker
MEPs have welcomed the decision of Cyprus interior minister to grant resident status to an gay Iranian asylum seeker.


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

-Asylum for a Gay Man from Russia
Immigration Equality
Pro bono attorneys at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP won asylum for 22-year-old "Nikolay," a gay man who feared abuse and mistreatment in Russia.
From an early age, Nikolay was harassed because he was perceived as effeminate. As he got older, classmates regularly attacked him because they assumed that he was gay. In the summer of 2005, Nikolay and two gay friends were arrested by police, specifically targeted because they were seen as too effeminate. Shortly thereafter, Nikolay fled to New York through a study-abroad program. After a fellow Russian student outed him to his friends and family, Nikolay knew he could never return home. Nikolay was also terrified of being forced into his pending mandatory military service in the Russian army, as recruits are notorious for attacking and even murdering gay soldiers. In July 2008, Nikolay found Immigration Equality, and we placed his case with pro bono attorneys at Milbank. According to lead attorney Sofia Khan, Nikolay "had already been harassed, beaten and arrested in Russia because he was gay. When I met him, he just wanted to live a free and happy life with his boyfriend . . . It was such a great feeling to be able to help [him] start his life here in the United States, not having to hide who he is and live in fear." Immigration Equality is thankful to Sofia and all of the Milbank staff who worked on Nikolay's case. Thanks to their efforts, Nikolay no longer has to live in fear of abuse. Help make asylum possible for more LGBT and HIV-positive people by making a donation today.


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 27, 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.

=

Happy Thanksgiving!!

=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-A Command of the Law
ROGER COHEN
I am thankful that the next commander in chief is a constitutional law expert, since what defines the United States is that it is a nation of laws. Before I get to why, allow me to add two other reasons for thankfulness. The first is that Barack Obama is a man of sufficient self-confidence to entrust the critical job of secretary of state to his former rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has the strength and focus to produce results. The second is that he's a man of sufficient good sense to retain the remarkable Robert Gates as defense secretary. President Bush had one overriding criterion in choosing his inner circle: loyalty. The result was nobody would pull the plug on stupidity. Obama wants the kind of competence and brainpower that challenge him. The God-gut decision-making of The Decider got us in this mess. Getting out of it will require an Oval Office where smart dissent is prized.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/opinion/27cohen.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

-Letter: The Plight of Gay Veterans
To the Editor:
Re "Newest Veterans Hit Hard by Economic Crisis" (front page, Nov. 18): One group of veterans who face added but avoidable economic distress are the thousands of gay men and lesbians who serve their country but cannot avail themselves of military benefits for their families.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/opinion/lweb27vets.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse

-Iraqi Parliament Ratifies U.S. Pact
The Iraqi Parliament ratified a long-delayed security agreement that sets out a three-year timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. [...] The new agreement comes into force when the United Nations mandate that currently governs the American troops expires on Dec 31. The new pact says all American combat forces should withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 next year and all American troops should be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/middleeast/28iraq.html?hp

-Emergency Declared at Thai Airports
The government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency at two Bangkok airports and told police to deal with protesters, media reported.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/asia/28thai.html?hp

-India: Standoffs Against Militants Continue
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the attackers probably had "external linkages," an indication that outsiders would likely be blamed for the attacks that killed at least 101 people in Mumbai.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/asia/28mumbai.html?hp


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

-After State,
David Ignatius
Condoleezza Rice may be the most disciplined person in this town of workaholics. So what's next? [....] She's leaving Washington for real after Inauguration Day and will return to Stanford University. If "Meet the Press" calls, she won't be in. "I have no desire to be shadow secretary of state," she told me.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112603232.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-Guantanamo Justice
The Bush administration will finally release Salim Ahmed Hamdan. The Uighurs should be next.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112603561.html


=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us

-Government by Contractor Is a Disgrace
Many jobs are best left to federal workers. Back in 1984, the conservative industrialist J. Peter Grace was telling whoever would listen why government was such a wasteful institution. One reason, which he spelled out in a book chapter on privatization, was that "government-run enterprises lack the driving forces of marketplace competition, which promote tight, efficient operations. This bears repetition," he wrote, "because it is such a profound and important truth."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122765980278958481.html


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

-Detroit native tapped for White House job
Deb Price / The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama selected Detroit-native Cecilia Muñoz as the White House director of intergovernmental affairs, the Obama transition office announced Wednesday. Muñoz, who has a bachelor's degree in English and Latin American studies from the University of Michigan, is currently a senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza, where she supervises legislative and advocacy work. Meanwhile, Jonathan Favreau, of North Reading, Mass., will be the director of speechwriting, the Obama team also announced. He held that position during the 2008 presidential campaign.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081126/UPDATE/811260446&imw=Y


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 27, 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.


=
Happy Thanksgiving!!

~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Compass: Gay-lesbian group moves headquarters in Lake Worth
New center in Lake Worth scheduled to open in March
Compass, the gay and lesbian advocacy group, has moved its headquarters into temporary offices in Lake Worth and is spending $1.5 million to renovate the former Mid-County Senior Center building on North Dixie Highway. Scheduled to open in March, the 12,000-square-foot Compass Community Center will be almost triple the size of the nonprofit organization's former headquarters in West Palm Beach. Compass sold its former headquarters at 7600 S. Dixie Highway to The Lord's Place, a nonprofit group that assists the homeless and plans a thrift store there. City commissioners last year approved a $1,000-a-year lease for just under 20 years to Compass for the community center at 201 N. Dixie Highway. Since early November, Compass has been operating from temporary offices at 23 South H St. and from a few smaller offices in downtown Lake Worth.

-Let gays adopt
Nobody writes about Florida's law that prohibits gay adoption. In Florida, a gay couple can foster a child but is not allowed to adopt. It is about time Florida becomes a state that stops being so narrow-minded and becomes modern with modern ideas. There are good and bad parents all over the world, married and not married.
Barbara Mazel, Boynton Beach
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-pmail655pnnov27,0,3273560.story


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

-Welcome to White Party Weekend 2008
Headline event for South Florida GLBT
Thanksgiving weekend means more in South Florida than just turkey and stuffing: it's White Party Weekend,with events for everybody!
...Thursday Highlight: Welcome party at Score
...Friday Highlights: Gods of War leather party, White Dreams at Space
...Saturday Highlights: Heatwave Pool Party; White Party headline event at Vizcaya
...Sunday Highlight: Muscle Beach, Finale parties at Twist and Discotekka
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22669


-Fallen officer an active part of GLBT community
Alex Del Rio remembered as a devoted officer and great friend
Alex Del Rio, the 31-year-old Hollywood police officer who was killed in a fiery crash on Sheridan Street in Hollywood Nov. 22, lived out of the closet, but he did not wear his sexual identity on his sleeve. He may have identified as bisexual, but he was just like all the other officers. He loved fast cars, he loved watching the Miami Dolphins and he was highly committed to serving the public. Derick Pitts was among Del Rio's best friends. He said Del Rio was always alarmingly aware of the dangers he faced in police work. Pitts said Del Rio had told him he always wore his bulletproof vest because he always expected to be shot by a motorist during a traffic stop. "I was prepared for that kind of call," Pitts said. "I was not prepared for what happened." Del Rio was killed when he lost control of his Crown Victoria, slammed into a tree and burst into flames.
http://www.floridablade.com/2008/11-26/news/localnews/5304.cfm


=
Anthony Niedwiecki for Oakland Park City Commission Campaign
Come to a Holiday Homes Tour After-Party!
Oakland Park Main Street is hosting a "Holiday Homes Tour" on Saturday December 6. The tour will feature homes around the City of Oakland Park that are decorated for the Holiday Season. After the tour, Anthony will open his house for a campaign fundraiser to celebrate the holidays with friends, neighbors, and supporters.
Saturday December 6, 2008 - 6:00-8:00 pm
At the home of Anthony Niedwiecki and Waymon Hudson
5280 NE 1st Terrace
Oakland Park, FL 33334
(Suggested donation between $20 and $250)
Come enjoy food, drinks, and Holiday Cheer!
We will be collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to a local food bank for the holiday season. Please bring what you can. Hope to see you there!
RSVP at (954) 319-5249 or email anthony@anthony09.com
Visit www.Anthony09.com for more details!


=
~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

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

-CFO Sink call for shift from real estate-based economy
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Florida's only Democratic elected executive officer, discussed the state of Florida's economy in a breakfast with reporters from the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald. The former bank executive has begun calling banks on behalf of the Florida Home Builders Association, which has pleaded for a "timeout" from banks calling in builders' construction loans. The cratering of the construction and credit markets is all the more reason why Florida must continue to diversify its economic base, she said, and end its reliance on real estate. She cited the wildly overbuilt Fort Myers, now one of the foreclosure capitals of the world. "There's nothing else there, except for Chico's," she said.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article917196.ece


=

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

GLBT DIGEST November 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Florida Gay Adoption Ban Is Ruled Unconstitutional
MIAMI - A Florida law that has banned adoptions by gay men and lesbians for over three decades is unconstitutional, a judge here ruled on Tuesday. "The best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption," the judge, Cindy S. Lederman of Miami-Dade Circuit Court, said in a 53-page decision. She said the law violated equal protection rights for children and their prospective parents. A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office said the state would appeal, and the case is likely to end up before the State Supreme Court. Florida is the only state with a law prohibiting gay men and lesbians - couples and individuals - from adopting children. The Legislature voted to prohibit adoptions by gay men and lesbians in 1977, in the midst of a campaign led by the entertainer Anita Bryant to repeal a gay rights ordinance adopted by Dade County. In 2005, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to the Florida law. Some states, like Mississippi and Utah, effectively bar adoptions by same-sex couples through laws that prohibit adoption by unmarried couples. Arkansas voters passed a similar measure this month. The ruling on Tuesday will allow Frank Martin Gill, 47, a gay man from North Miami, to adopt two foster children whom he has raised since 2004. "Our family just got a lot more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving," Mr. Gill said in a news release issued by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him. Robert Rosenwald, director of the LGBT Advocacy Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and one of the lawyers on the case, said, "The case means that these two boys won't be torn from the only home that they've ever known," said. The state presented experts who argued that there was a higher incidence of drug and alcohol abuse among same-sex couples, that their relationships were less stable than those of heterosexuals, and that their children suffered a societal stigma. But lawyers for Mr. Gill presented evidence contradicting those contentions, which Judge Lederman found persuasive. "It is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person's ability to parent," she wrote. Mr. Rosenwald called the decision a huge victory for gay and lesbian parents and for almost 1,000 children in Florida waiting to be adopted. "The court for the first time after hearing all of the evidence determined that the scientific evidence is crystal clear," he said. "There is no dispute that children raised by gay parents fare just as well or better than children raised by straight parents."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/26florida.html?sq=GAY&st=cse&scp=4&pagewanted=print

-Australian Legislators Back Gay Rights
Australian lawmakers have approved legislation giving homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexuals but have ruled out legalizing same-sex marriages.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/world/asia/26australia.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=GAY&st=cse

-Movie Review: Milk (2008)
Freedom Fighter in Life Becomes Potent Symbol in Death
One of the first scenes in "Milk" is of a pick-up in a New York subway station. It's 1970, and an insurance executive in a suit and tie catches sight of a beautiful, scruffy younger man - the phrase "angel-headed hipster" comes to mind - and banters with him on the stairs. The mood of the moment, which ends up with the two men eating birthday cake in bed, is casual and sexy, and its flirtatious playfulness is somewhat disarming, given our expectation of a serious and important movie grounded in historical events. "Milk," directed by Gus Van Sant from a script by Dustin Lance Black, is certainly such a film, but it manages to evade many of the traps and compromises of the period biopic with a grace and tenacity worthy of its title character.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/movies/26milk.html?scp=3&sq=GAY&st=cse

-Inquiry Set on Mormon Aid for California Marriage Vote
California officials will investigate accusations that the Mormon Church neglected to report a battery of nonmonetary contributions - including phone banks, a Web site and commercials - on behalf of a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/politics/26marriage.html?scp=6&sq=GAY&st=cse

-Study Cites Toll of AIDS Policy in South Africa
President Thabo Mbeki's denial of the scientific consensus about AIDS may have led to the premature deaths of 365,000 people, a new study suggests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/world/africa/26aids.html?hp


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

-Michelle Obama's 'Mommy' Stamp
When Michelle Obama took to describing her new role as mom in chief, my first reaction was to wince at her words. My second reaction was to identify with them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112501889.html?hpid=opinionsbox1


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

-Obama team denies it will delay 'Don't Ask' repeal
Gay service members see need to build support
An Obama transition team spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the decision on how to approach repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which prohibits gays from serving openly in the military, would be made after more experts have joined the Obama administration. These decisions will not be made before the full national security team is in place," the spokesperson said.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=22644


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

-Canadian province sued over gay marriage rule
(Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) A marriage commissioner is suing the Saskatchewan government after being fined $2,500 for refusing to marry a gay couple. A Saskatchewan human rights tribunal cited Orville Nichols for discrimination in May for refusing to perform the same-sex marriage. Nichols told the tribunal last year that he refused to marry the couple in 2005 because it went against his Baptist faith.
http://www.365gay.com/news/canadian-province-sued-over-gay-marriage-rule/


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

-Man Who Infected Ex-Wife With HIV Ordered to Pay $12.5 Million
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid67154.asp

-233,000 Americans May Unknowingly Have HIV
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid67011.asp


=
National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-MillerCoors and Matthew Shepard Foundation Partner to Help Erase Hate
MillerCoors has teamed up with Judy Shepard to support the Matthew Shepard Foundation (MSF) and its ongoing commitment to ensure that dealing with hate is a top priority in our schools and workplaces. MillerCoors, a national sponsor of MSF, announced it will match 100% of the first $10,000 in donations through the Campaign to Erase Hate website, www.MatthewShepard.org.


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

-Sweden Inches Towards Gay Marriage
Link: On Top Magazine
Sexual orientation is a protected class in the Swedish Constitution, yet the country defined marriage as between one man and one woman in 1987, making gay marriage illegal. But legislation to be introduced shortly seeks to make Sweden the seventh country to legalize gay marriage, reports AFP. "Sweden could have a gender neutral marriage law by May 1, 2009," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told Swedish Radio on November 5.

-Will Ken Starr Defend Prop 8 in CA Supreme Court?
Link: Mother Jones
Overheard last week in DC at a right-wing legal convention: "We've all but confirmed that Ken Starr is going to take the case."--Jordan Lorence, senior counsel, Alliance Defense Fund. The involvement of the former Clinton special prosecutor in efforts to preserve California's new ban on gay marriage really wouldn't come as much of a surprise. Two years ago, Starr, now dean of the Pepperdine law school, represented a bunch of anti-gay marriage groups, including the Mormon Church, in amicus briefs in some of California's gay marriage litigation. He's been involved in the issue for a while, now. Given the intense interest in other people's sex lives that Starr demonstrated during his investigation of the Lewinsky scandal, he seems a perfect fit for the job.

-Standing Firm, Moving Forward
Link: The Bilerico Project
Despite losses in Florida, Arizona and California on same-sex marriage, the LGBT community can draw strength from how far our struggle has come in just four years. In 2004, same-sex marriage lost on the ballot in 13 states, by margins that ranged from largely the mid-70s to as high as 88 percent. This year the margins were much, much closer: in Florida it was 62 percent to 38 percent, in Arizona it was 56 percent to 44 percent, and in California it was 52 percent to 48 percent. In short, the point spread is bending toward justice. In California, millions voted against Proposition 8 and tens of thousands gave up their evenings and weekends to canvass their communities or participate in No on 8 phone banks. From grandparents to college students to everyone in-between, Californians worked passionately and tirelessly for LGBT equality because it is a principle they believe in. Proposition 8 passed because it was among the most vitriolic anti-LGBT campaigns in our nation's history. But the progress being made cannot be disputed, and one day, in the not-too-distant future, we know that our families will be accorded the same dignity, respect and recognition as all other families in America.


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

-Obama adviser on gays in the military criticised for sexist attitudes
Advocates for an end to the ban on openly gay people serving in the US military have questioned the suitability of one of the President-elect's advisers.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9675.html

-New report recommends universal HIV testing to reduce infections
A new study has been published that suggests a strategy of universal voluntary HIV testing would reduce HIV cases in a 'severe generalised epidemic' from 20 per 1000 people to one per 1000 people within ten years.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9673.html

-Scottish government supports Auschwitz trips for teenagers
Two pupils from every school in Scotland will be able to visit one of the sites of the Holocaust after the country's government announced funding for the Lessons from Auschwitz Project.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9670.html

-Art exhibition explores homophobia in football
The work of gay artist Jason Bartholomew-Hall is appearing at an exhibition this week in Brighton. Entitled 'Fans, Stands and Homosexuality: Photographic journeys into football' features the works of three artists.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9669.html

-Nature or nurture? The debate continues.
In a recent addition to the Nature versus Nurture debate, a survey has revealed that for the majority of lesbians, sexuality is not a choice.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9668.html


=
Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Act Up, Fight Back, Fight Hate!
BY MICHAEL G. LIBERATORE | Frontier Publishing
We are about to make history. This is the stuff of which civil rights legends are made. The Stonewall Riot in New York City. Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the back of the bus. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s march on Washington. ACT UP's illustrious history of civil disobedience. And now, we fight for our right to marry. A right granted to us by California's Supreme Court in March of 2008, and rescinded by a small majority of bigoted, closed-minded Californians on Nov. 4. Tempers are flaring, and our indignation is justified. We have been lied about, scapegoated and cheated by religious organizations that gleefully accept tax-exempt status while blatantly abusing that privilege. We have been abandoned by the very businesses we've supported; those who chose to contribute to the hate-mongering Yes on 8 campaign. And we feel divided from other oppressed minorities, those whose battles we have joined selflessly, and those who now choose to tell us we should now be treated as second-class citizens. Read more

-Boycotting Utah
By Lisa Neff | 365Gay.com
My family comes from a place in western Illinois where great efforts have been made to remedy the persecution of a group of people. My dad grew up on a farm in Ferris, Ill., not far from Nauvoo, a beautiful little town founded by Joseph Smith, who founded the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints. The town grew as the Mormon population grew. And around the town, unease about Mormon lifestyle, political influence and religious beliefs grew to open warfare - homes were destroyed, crops were burned, lives were threatened, leaders were jailed. Eventually the Mormons were forced to abandon their homes in Nauvoo - the largest forced migration in U.S. history, 1,300 miles across the plains to Utah's Great Salt Lake. Read more

-Don't Call It a Culture War
By Ann Friedman | The American Prospect
As the election-night results rolled in - and even before that, as the polling leaned heavily toward Barack Obama - some liberals gleefully declared the end of the so-called culture war. This war's two most reliable weapons, demonizing same-sex marriage and decrying abortion rights, failed to propel Republican candidates to victory - supposedly indicating that so-called cultural issues had lost their bite. Wrote Peter Beinart in The Washington Post, "Culture war no longer sells." Obama's landslide victory prompted many progressives to declare that the long-awaited Democratic majority had finally emerged. But watching the most momentous election in a generation was bittersweet. Despite the supposed ceasefire in the culture war, Nov. 4 saw the passage of four heartbreakingly bigoted ballot measures: same-sex marriage bans in California, Florida, and Arizona, along with an Arkansas initiative designed to prohibit same-sex couples from adopting or foster-parenting. This is a call to arms. Progressives should not declare the culture war dead; we must reframe it and keep fighting.

-Why Churches Fear Gay Marriage
By Jeanne Carstensen | Salon.com
For author Richard Rodriguez, no one is talking about the real issues behind Proposition 8. While conservative churches are busy trying to whip up another round of culture wars over same-sex marriage, Rodriquez says the real reason for their panic lies elsewhere: the breakdown of the traditional heterosexual family and the shifting role of women in society and the church itself. As the American family fractures and the majority of women choose to live without men, churches are losing their grip on power and scapegoating gays and lesbians for their failures.

-Event: Day Without a Gay, Dec 10, 2008
www.daywithoutagay.org
We are calling for a nationwide strike and economic boycott by all members of our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community AND OUR STRAIGHT ALLIES on December 10th, 2008, International Human Rights Day.
WHY SHOULD WE DO IT?
Because LGBT workers, business owners, consumers and taxpayers contribute over $700 billion to the U.S. economy each year and should not be treated as second class citizens. See www.witeckcombs.com/news/releases/20080602_buyingpower.pdf
Because general strikes and economic boycotts are a powerful weapon in the history of non-violent protests. See
http://www.pbs.org/now/society/boycott.html. For many of those protesters, their actions came at a cost, but they understood that we must be willing to make sacrifices to fight for equal rights, including the right to marry.

-Anti-Gay, Anti-Family
By DAN SAVAGE | New York Times
COUNTLESS Americans, gay and otherwise, are still mourning - and social conservatives are still celebrating - the approval last Tuesday of anti-gay-marriage amendments in Florida, Arizona and, most heartbreaking, California, where Proposition 8 stripped same-sex couples of their right to wed. Eighteen thousand same-sex couples were legally married in California this past summer and fall; their marriages are now in limbo. But while Californians march and gay activists contemplate a national boycott of Utah - the Mormon Church largely bankrolled Proposition 8 - an even more ominous new law in Arkansas has drawn little notice. That state's Proposed Initiative Act No. 1, approved by nearly 57 percent of voters last week, bans people who are "cohabitating outside a valid marriage" from serving as foster parents or adopting children. While the measure bans both gay and straight members of cohabitating couples as foster or adoptive parents, the Arkansas Family Council wrote it expressly to thwart "the gay agenda." Right now, there are 3,700 other children across Arkansas in state custody; 1,000 of them are available for adoption. The overwhelming majority of these children have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their heterosexual parents. Read more


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-For Biden, No Portfolio but the Role of a Counselor
Barack Obama has moved quickly to assemble staff but is lagging in defining his vice president's role.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/politics/26biden.html?hp

-U.S. Plans $800 Billion in Lending to Ease Crisis
The Fed and the Treasury signaled that they would print as much money as needed to revive the banking system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/business/economy/26fed.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1227701541-X8jhDxmoZX5pGXvYAT8inQ

-All Fall Down
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
After a near total breakdown of responsibility at every link in our financial chain, now we either bail out the people who brought us here or risk a systemic crash. These are the wages of our sins.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/opinion/26friedman.html?ref=opinion

-So Who Picked Up the Tab?
More questions are being raised about the doubtful ethics of Representative Charles Rangel of New York, the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. The latest sniff of scandal - a breakfast meeting with a donor seeking tax protection - provides more grist for the House ethics inquiry that's supposed to be under way into Mr. Rangel's tangled affairs.Speaker Nancy Pelosi should insist that the ethics investigation into Representative Charles Rangel's affairs move forward.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/opinion/26wed2.html?ref=opinion

-Obama Plans to Retain Gates at Defense Department
President-elect Barack Obama will keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates as a show of continuity in a time of war, Democrats close to the transition said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/politics/26gates.html?hp

-Switzerland: Remorseful Ex-Officials Decline Pay From UBS
As a number of American banks resist calls to rein in executive pay, the unthinkable is happening - at least in Switzerland, where three former officials of UBS, the troubled Swiss financial giant, said on Tuesday that they would forgo more than $27 million in compensation. Marcel Ospel, the former chairman of the board at the Swiss bank, and Stephan Haeringer and Marco Suter, two former directors, said they would give up pay promised them after the bank reported nearly $50 billion in losses and received even more than that in financial support from the Swiss government. With the involvement of the Swiss government, I realized that decisive action was required on my part," Mr. Ospel said in a statement. "I hope that my action will help to resolve a situation that was inconceivable to me until a short time ago," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/business/worldbusiness/26pay.html?pagewanted=print

-Obama Picks Volcker to Head New Panel
President-elect Barack Obama named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker chairman-designate of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/obama-plans-to-name-volcker-as-head-of-new-economic-panel/?hp


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

-Michelle Obama's 'Mommy' Stamp
When Michelle Obama took to describing her new role as mom in chief, my first reaction was to wince at her words. My second reaction was to identify with them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112501889.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-Voters Fail the Test
A new report finds that most Americans are too ignorant to vote. Out of 2,500 American quiz-takers, including college students, elected officials and other randomly selected citizens, nearly 1,800 flunked a 33-question test on basic civics. In fact, elected officials scored slightly lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent compared to 49 percent. Only 0.8 percent of all test-takers scored an "A."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502104.html

-Take the Civics Quiz
Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

-Closing Death Row
A Maryland panel offers wise advice on capital punishment.
MARYLAND lawmakers will soon have another chance to reassess the use of the death penalty. They should follow the lead of states such as New Jersey and legislatively abolish capital punishment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502079.html


=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us

-Vote on Withdrawal Bares Tensions in Iraq
As parliament prepares to vote on a U.S.-Baghdad security pact, tension is building over how Iraq's ethnicities will live together once U.S. troops withdraw.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122765293047357845.html


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

-Add bigotry to presidential threats
OUR OPINION: Barack Obama carries more than the usual assassination risks.
Mr. Obama is a target for the deranged, the politically extreme and other would-be assassins. He also arouses the hatred of bigotry, as evidenced by the ugly underside of the election. He has received more death threats than any other president-elect, authorities say. No sign, no crime? So it is not surprising that people reacted with outrage about a sign in a Standish, Maine, store that invited customers to bet $1 on a date when President-elect Obama would be assassinated. The sign, written on an eraser board, said ``Osama Obama Shotgun Pool. Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count. Let's hope someone wins.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/787851.html


=
Pew Research center
http://pewresearch.org/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Center-What Country
Winds of Political Change Haven't Shifted Public's Ideology Balance
The proportions of the public identifying their views as liberal, moderate or conservative have remained relatively constant. Still, ideological labels don't always predict policy opinions; e.g.,about half of self-described conservatives say that all or some of the Bush tax cuts should be repealed while many liberals support off-shore drilling. Read more

-Media-Care
How Different News Outlets Cover Health
At a time when health care is a major public policy issue, a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Project for Excellence in Journalism examines the extent to which health news has been a part of the national news agenda including coverage of health-related issues in the 2008 presidential primary campaign. Read more

-Shifting Gears
Auto Bailouts and the Obama Transition Lead the News
Although no other media stories came close to rivaling the economy's troubles and the emerging face of the incoming administration, one other story drew sensational coverage: piracy on the high seas. Read more

-Watching the White House Take Shape
Americans are paying close attention to Obama's cabinet and staff selections. While less attention has been paid to personal matters -- like the first family's new puppy -- news about Michelle Obama is reported to be mostly positive by the public, a sharp contrast to the perceived negativity over the summer. Read more

-Daily Number
24 points - God Gap
Though Obama made gains among people of all levels of religious observance, he still received far more support among those who never attend worship services (67% voted for him) compared with those who attend services weekly (43% voted for him), for an "attendance gap" of 24 points. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Read more


=
How Big is Your Carbon Footprint?
Find out, then reduce it and offset it!
Calculate your carbon footprint with this quick quiz.
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 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.


=
~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Movie: Milk Opens at Gateway Cinema in Ft, Lauderdale, Wednesday November 26.


=
THE GLCC IS HOSTING ITS ANNUAL THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION DINNER ON NOVEMBER 27 FROM 12 PM - 2 PM - 1717 N. ANDREWS AVENUE, FORT LAUDERDALE A FREE TURKEY DINNER IS PROVIDED - NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED WE WILL GRATEFULLY ACCEPT DISHES TO SHARE.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT LINDA JAIN AT 954-463-9005.


=
From Terry DeCarlo: WORLD AIDS DAY - DECEMBER 1
I hope you will be able to join us for a candlelight walk down Wilton Drive on World AIDS Day to remember those we have lost to the disease. it will start at Richardson park (1937 Wilton Drive, across from Dairy Queen) and end at the shoppes of Wilton Manors where Georgies will host a rally in their parking lot. The lambda chorale will sing and there will be a few speakers including the Reverand Joel Slotnick. The vigil steps off from the park at 7:30 pm. Community organizations are urged to bring and walk under their banners to show community unity, and individuals are encouraged to bring pictures of love ones lost. Please feel free to forward this email to your lists, friends, family and aquaintances as all are invited. Hope to see you all there.


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Florida judge allows gay man to adopt foster children, calls ban illegal
A Miami trial judge's ruling allowing a gay man to adopt two foster children appears headed for the Florida Supreme Court and a test that could overturn the last complete ban of gay adoption in the nation. "There is no rational basis to preclude homosexuals from adopting," Judge Cindy S. Lederman said Tuesday in a Miami-Dade County juvenile courtroom, declaring Florida's 31-year-old ban on gay adoption illegal. She cited expert testimony saying there is no sound science to justify the ban. Upon hearing the judge's words, Frank Martin Gill patted his eyes with a folded white tissue, grateful for the opportunity to permanently parent the children he and his partner have raised since just before Christmas 2004. [...] "This is heartbreaking, this is horrible," said the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, founder of the Worldwide Christian Center Church in Pompano Beach. "This is one of the worst cases of judicial activism we could ever see." Children should not be exposed to two men living as spouses, Dozier said. "It disturbs, for life, young impressionable minds."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbadopt1126sbnov26,0,5662827.story


=
Steve Rothaus
www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Florida ban on gay adoptions ruled unconstitutional
A Miami-Dade circuit judge Tuesday declared Florida's 30-year-old ban on gay adoption unconstitutional, allowing a North Miami man to adopt two foster kids he has raised since 2004. [...] Moments after Lederman released the ruling, attorneys for Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced they would appeal the decision to the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami. ''We respect the court's decision,'' said attorney Valerie Martin, who had argued in support of the ban during a weeklong trial Oct. 1-6. But, she added: ``Based upon the wishes of our client, the Department of Children & Families, we have filed a notice of appeal this morning.'' [...] Gov. Charlie Crist, a former attorney general who has expressed support for the adoption ban, declined to comment Tuesday, saying he hadn't yet reviewed the ruling.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-Teen tragedy sparks gay concern
High school shooting emphasizes need of LGBTQ services
http://southfloridablade.com/2008/11-20/news/localnews/5287.cfm

-'Through the Eyes of Love'
World AIDS Day exhibit opens at Sunrise Galleria
By Dan Renzi, | Nov. 25 at 8:44 AM | drenzi@expressgaynews.com
Miami Beach Community Health Center's "Through the Eyes of Love" exhibit, in honor of World AIDS Day, will showcase a diverse collection of art and photographs, symbolizing the depth of local artists' thoughts and feelings as it relates to HIV/AIDS. This Miami and Fort Lauderdale admission-free exhibition will also include hundreds of panels from The NAMES Project Foundation-AIDS Memorial Quilt. The opening reception for "Through the Eyes of Love" will take place at 6 p.m. on Nov. 25 at The Galleria, where select artists will receive cash prizes for their work. It is sure to be a lovely affair, come one and come all. If you can't make it to the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display until Dec. 14.
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22621


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Florida, U.S. Sugar reach deal on Everglades land
The proposed contract marks the culmination of five months of closed-door talks and deviates little from terms already publicized, including that the state will pay $1.34 billion for 180,000 acres of sugar land to restore water flows from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades. "This acquisition represents one of the most important opportunities to protect the Everglades ecosystem in recent years," Michael Sole, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said during a conference call Tuesday.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpussugar1126pnnov26,0,4638476.story


=

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

GLBT DIGEST November 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-California to Investigate Mormon Aid to Prop 8
California officials will investigate whether the Mormon church accurately described its role in a campaign to ban gay marriage in the state. The California Fair Political Practices Commission said Monday that a complaint by a gay rights group merits further inquiry.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage-Mormons.html

-Op-Ed Contributor: Anti-Gay, Anti-Family
COUNTLESS Americans, gay and otherwise, are still mourning - and social conservatives are still celebrating - the approval last Tuesday of anti-gay-marriage amendments in Florida, Arizona and, most heartbreaking, California, where Proposition 8 stripped same-sex couples of their right to wed. Eighteen thousand same-sex couples were legally married in California this past summer and fall; their marriages are now in limbo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/opinion/12savage.html?scp=7&sq=GAY&st=cse

-Nepal Jumps Ahead on Gay and Transgender Rights
After California voters passed the proposition to ban gay marriage in the state, gay and transgender rights is back on the headlines in America. While the debate rages on there, Nepal - a faraway country, much smaller and often ignored on the world stage is now being looked upon as an example on how to handle the gay and transgender rights issue. [link]
http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/nepal-jumps-ahead-on-gay-and-transgender-rights/?scp=2&sq=GAY&st=cse

-NYC: Naming a Senator to Follow a Tough Act
How difficult can it possibly be to find a new junior senator for New York once Hillary Rodham Clinton takes charge at the State Department? Gov. David A. Paterson will get to pick her successor. It should be a breeze. We are a large state, with roughly 11 million people who are at least 30 years old, the age threshold that the Constitution sets for United States senators.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/nyregion/25nyc.html?scp=2&sq=GAY&st=cse

-Editorial: California's Legal Tangle
The approval of Proposition 8 in California, a constitutional change designed to prohibit marriage between couples of the same sex, was not just a defeat for fairness. It raised serious legal questions about the validity of using the Election Day initiative process to obliterate an existing right for a targeted minority.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/opinion/25tue4.html?scp=4&sq=GAY&st=cse

-Editorial: California's Legal Tangle
The approval of Proposition 8 in California, a constitutional change designed to prohibit marriage between couples of the same sex, was not just a defeat for fairness. It raised serious legal questions about the validity of using the Election Day initiative process to obliterate an existing right for a targeted minority.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/opinion/25tue4.html?ref=opinion


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

-Disgraced pastor returns, as Christian businessman
Earlier this month, a guest took the pulpit at Open Bible Fellowship in Morrison, Ill., a 350-member church surrounded by cornfields. The speaker was an insurance salesman from Colorado named Ted Haggard.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112301073.html?hpid=sec-religion


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Partners in abusive same-sex relationships less likely to reach out for help
Victims less likely to seek help from available sources
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpsamesexboxpnnov25,0,7014038.story

-Use a different word, like 'garriage'
A gay letter writer, angry that most people voted to keep marriage between a man and a woman, threatens that "Gay marriage is coming. You don't have to like it. You just have to accept it." Really? It is precisely this attitude from militant homosexuals that is backfiring. Gays are doing their best to portray the vote as hate-based. It was not. Gays want to change the definition, and purpose, of what marriage has been since the beginning. As a union of man and woman, marriage, more often than not, results in children. Those children, hopefully, are raised with a mother and father as role models. This is the natural order of things, and to many people, also coincides with their religious beliefs. While I believe that homosexuality is biological (in the animal kingdom as well), I don't believe 1 percent or 2 percent of the population should be able to ram their agenda down the throats of the other 98 percent. I don't think anyone has a problem with gay couples having the exact same legal rights as married couples. Put that up for a vote and it will pass overwhelmingly. Call it by a different name. Call it a civil union. Call it "garriage" (gay marriage). Just leave marriage alone.
Mary Eiland, Boca Raton
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-pbmail191pnnov25,0,753320.story


=
Steve Rothaus
www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-South Florida Blade Publisher Kevin Hopper promoted to new position
Kevin Hopper, publisher of the South Florida Blade and 411 Magazine has been promoted to a new position at parent company Window Media, in which he'll also be publisher of Southern Voice and David Magazine.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-Video: Time for 'Milk' on David Letterman
James Franco on kissing Sean Penn in tale of openly-gay San Francisco city official.
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22594


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

-NYS insurers ordered to recognize same-sex marriages
The New York State overseerer of insurance companies has told companies they must treat legally married same-sex couples the same as they treat opposite-sex married pairs.
http://www.365gay.com/news/nys-insurers-ordered-to-recognize-same-sex-marriages/

-Boy George pleads not guilty to chaining, imprisoning gay hustler
A trial began in London on Monday for singer/DJ Boy George on charges he shackled a male escort, chained him up, and assaulted him.
http://www.365gay.com/news/boy-george-pleads-not-guilty-to-chaining-imprisoning-gay-hustler/

-Gays told to remember gay-friendly merchants this holiday season
The Human Rights Campaign on Monday released its 2009 "Buying for Equality" to help consumers identify hundreds of businesses and brands that support equality and fairness.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gays-told-to-remember-gay-friendly-merchants-this-holiday-season/

-Conservative groups begin battle to preserve federal DOMA
Socially conservative groups have begun mounting a campaign to pressure incoming members of Congress to resist efforts to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
http://www.365gay.com/news/conservative-groups-begin-battle-to-preserve-federal-doma/

-Australia approves rights for gay couples
The Australian government has passed legislation recognizing same-sex couples under a large number of laws, but the measure falls short of granting either marriage or civil unions.
http://www.365gay.com/news/australia-approves-rights-for-gay-couples/

-Protest calls for repeal of Arkansas anti-gay adoption measure
Opponents of a voter approved measure banning unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children in Arkansas are calling on lawmakers to overturn it.
http://www.365gay.com/news/protest-calls-for-repeal-of-arkansas-anti-gay-adoption-measure/

-Microchips for PWAs in Indonesia
Implanting small computer chips beneath the skin of "sexually aggressive" patients.
http://www.365gay.com/news/microchips-for-pwas-in-indonesia/

-Gay Performer Boy George Denied Entry To.U.S.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-performer-boy-george-denied-entry-to-us/


=
Human Rights Campaign
http://www.hrc.org/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Buying for Equality Guide - Support Businesses that Support Us
Buying groceries? Planning a trip? Making investment decisions?
With the economy as it is, the need to ensure that every dollar spent counts has never been more important. This year hundreds of businesses have earned the right to call you a customer with the commitment they have made to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Buying for Equality guide will help you easily support companies that support equality for LGBT Americans.
Ratings in Buying for Equality are based on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's annual report card, the Corporate Equality Index. A record 260 businesses scored 100 percent on this year's report, which is a significant increase from the 195 businesses that earned a perfect score last year. From enhanced domestic partner benefits to transgender inclusion in non-discrimination policies, we are seeing a revolution in the American workplace. More than 300,000 people have used Buying for Equality to make informed choices about their purchases. This year, you can do your part to support fair-minded businesses by requesting or downloading Buying for Equality 2009. Get the Buyer's Guide on your phone. Text SHOP and the name of the company to 30644. Or download the guide:
http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide2009/hrc_buyersguide_09.pdf

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

-Dianne Feinstein Does About-Face on Same-Sex Marriage
Though California senator Dianne Feinstein has long been a supporter of gay rights, she's stopped short of supporting full marriage equality. But an interview for NBC Nightly News with Maureen Dowd suggests she may well have done an about-face. In the interview, Feinstein discusses finding the body of Harvey Milk and her involvement in Focus Features' forthcoming biopic. She also talks about her decision to speak out against Prop. 8 in California and her evolving views on same-sex marriage. "I think as more and more people have gay friends, gay associations, see gay heroism, that their views change," Feinstein said in the interview. "I think people are beginning to look at it differently, I know it's happened for me. "I started out not supporting it. The longer I've lived, the more I've seen the happiness of people, the stability that these commitments bring to a life. Many adopted children who would have ended up in foster care now have good solid homes and are brought up learning the difference between right and wrong. It's a very positive thing." Feinstein had previously said that while she would not endorse a statewide ban on same-sex marriage, she supported civil unions over "redefining" marriage. (The Advocate)
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid67008.asp

-No Milk for Cinemark, No Twilight for Gays
Cinemark theatre chain CEO Alan Stock shelled out $9,999 to pass Prop. 8 in California, but will his theater chain profit from ticket sales for the forthcoming release of Milk. Not if a group of people on the Web have anything to say about it. NoMilkforCinemark.com is dedicated to convincing ticket buyers to see Milk at a competitor's theater. The idea is that if the gay community agrees to buy tickets to see the movie somewhere else, Cinemark will lose revenue from what promises to be one of the most profitable pictures of the holiday season. California's Briggs initiative, which would have resulted in the firing of gay and lesbian teachers throughout the state in 1978, plays a prominent role in the film. But LGBT moviegoers are faced with another tough decision this holiday season. Twilight, based on the best-selling novel by Stephanie Meyer, opened in theaters this weekend. And if Meyer is to be taken at her word, 10% of all monies she makes off the movie will go to the Mormon Church. Meyer has made no public statement regarding her feelings on California's Prop. 8.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid66939.asp

-Separation of Sundance and State
In 2009, Sundance will celebrate 25 years of bringing together international cinema and a variety of cultures in Park City, Utah. But with California's gay community reeling from the passage of Prop. 8, activists and filmmakers are suggesting a boycott of the festival and theater chain Cinemark, whose CEO donated a substantial sum to the marriage ban's campaign. But just how realistic is a boycott of an entire state?
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid66959.asp


=
National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Obama Names 7 Gays to Transition Team
Officials with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team this week named at least seven openly gay people to transition panels assigned to review federal departments and agencies. Three of the seven gays named to the transition panels - businessman Fred P. Hochberg, former San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg, and labor attorney Elaine Kaplan - held high-level positions in the Clinton administration. The Obama officials also named President Bush's former ambassador to Romania, Michael Guest, to a transition panel assigned to review issues pertaining to the State Department. Guest became the nation's second openly gay ambassador when Bush appointed him to the Romania post for a term lasting from 2001 to 2003.
http://washblade.com/2008/11-21/news/national/index.cfm

-Next State to Usher in Gay Marriage May be Iowa
Only weeks after a ballot initiative put marriage rights for gay and lesbian families in California to a vote--with families in that state losing the right to marry being the outcome--families in the state of Iowa may see the way cleared for marriage parity. A Nov. 21 story in the Iowa newspaper the Press-Citizen detailed how a ruling from that state's Supreme Court is poised to determine whether or not marriage equality will be permitted there.
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=83811

-Why Are There No Openly Gay Leading Men in Hollywood?
With Sean Penn starring as Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco supervisor who was gunned down along with Mayor George Moscone in 1978, the movie (which opens Wednesday) makes its message clear: Gay people must be "out" to be counted. This theme is particularly timely given California's passage of anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8 this month, but there's also a certain irony:
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2008/11/gus-van-sants-m.html


=
Day Without a Gay
www.daywithoutagay.org

-We are calling for a nationwide strike and economic boycott by all members of our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community AND OUR STRAIGHT ALLIES on December 10th, 2008, International Human Rights Day.

WHY SHOULD WE DO IT?
-Because LGBT workers, business owners, consumers and taxpayers contribute over $700 billion to the U.S. economy each year and should not be treated as second class citizens. See www.witeckcombs.com/news/releases/20080602_buyingpower.pdf
Because general strikes and economic boycotts are a powerful weapon in the history of non-violent protests. See http://www.pbs.org/now/society/boycott.html. For many of those protesters, their actions came at a cost, but they understood that we must be willing to make sacrifices to fight for equal rights, including the right to marry.
-Because Civil Unions are only legal in the state that offers them. Civil Unions don't include the 1100 marriage rights and benefits provided by the Federal Government. Separate but not equal is discrimination.
-Because every couple in America has to get a marriage certificate from their state, whereas religious ceremonies are optional. No church or religious institution has or ever will be forced to marry anyone.
-Because marriage should be a Right for all Americans, regardless of gender, race OR religion.
-Because until ALL are equal, NONE are equal.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
-Strike: call in gay, shut down your business, take the day off.
-Boycott: don't buy anything or spend money.
-Participate: visit www.daywithoutagay.org for a list of volunteer and/or protest opportunities.
Communicate: we need everyone's support!
Our co-sponsors include:
JOINTHEIMPACT.COM
DAYWITHOUTAGAY.ORG
DAYWITHOUTAGAY.NET


=
Detroit News
http://detnews.com/

-Despite challenges, savor this year's blessings
Deb Price
President-elect Barack Obama's great love of Abraham Lincoln has me spending chilly evenings curled up with a history book or two. Turns out that honest, sad-eyed Abe knew the importance of staying in close touch with gratitude, of giving thanks even in the midst of turmoil and disappointment. In October 1863, President Lincoln was locked in the middle of the terrible Civil War that was "testing," as he would put it a few weeks later in Gettysburg, whether a "nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal ... can long endure." In other words, not only was victory nowhere in sight, he didn't even know whether the nation would survive.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081124/OPINION03/811240323


=
Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to this link for the following articles:
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]

-LDS political activism on gay marriage could impact Romney future
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
The key role played by the LDS Church in passing California's gay marriage ban could have long-lasting consequences - good and bad - for the future of the nation's highest-profile Mormon politician: Mitt Romney. The LDS effort could give Romney a crucial boost among evangelicals who wield great power in choosing the Republican presidential nominee. But it might leave the former Massachusetts governor an even tougher slog among a broader electorate.

-Commentary: Why Gay Marriage Is an Asian American Matter
Source: AsianWeek
When the San Francisco Chronicle ran a Nov. 7 article exploring why Asians were the only ethnic minority to produce a majority of voters against Proposition 8 and its ban of same-sex marriage, a reader commented on the Chronicle's website: "Why in the world would the Asian American community ally itself with the gays? The Asian American community [has] virtually nothing in common with the gays except maybe being minorities." This comment would be cute in its naiveté if we weren't at such a critical juncture in American history. This kind of dangerously insular thinking has no place in a nation on the brink of tremendous political and social change, ignited by the election of President-elect Barack Obama.

-Massive Prop 8 Protest Targets Cinemark Theatre in Evanston, IL
Source: Towleroad
A massive protest targeting Alan Stock, the Mormon owner of the Cinemark theatre chain who donated $9,999 to the Proposition 8 campaign, took place in Evanston, Illinois over the weekend. the protest was organized by Chicago's Gay Liberation Network and its organizer Andy Thayer, who speaks in the video below.


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

-Interview: Bishop Gene Robinson on prophets, Prop 8 and progress
Gene Robinson is a calming presence. The world feels less dangerous when you talk to him, and evils such as racism and homophobia seem less threatening and somehow distant.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9666.html

-EU Commission reports on gay rights in candidate countries
A leading gay rights group has praised the European Union for raising the human rights of LGBT people in this year's progress reports on candidate countries.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9664.html

-Burundi MPs vote to criminalise same-sex acts ahead of UN appeal
An African nation has become the latest to criminalise homosexual acts, just weeks before France will plead for universal decriminalisation at the UN.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9662.html

-Gay Mayor of Paris distances himself from Socialist party infighting
The French Socialist party has been left in chaos following the narrow victory by Martine Aubry in the election for leadership.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9661.html

-Police continue inquiries into MP who thinks gays can be cured A DUP MP who caused outrage among Northern Ireland's gay community with her homophobic outbursts may still face charges.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9660.html


=
Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Rachel Maddow Goes Soft on Anti-Gay Huckabee
By Pam Spaudling | Pam's House Blend
I'm starting to think that Rachel Maddow has an issue or professional discomfort with taking on publicly anti-gay figures on her show. It's an oddity, given 1) she's out and has a high-profile; and 2) her fellow MSNBC host, Keith Olbermann, has been extremely forceful as an ally on the issue by comparison. She's spoken at length about the debacle of Prop 8, so one would assume that if given the opportunity, Maddow would address the issue with well-known homophobes. The reticence to take on agents of intolerance surfaced in a recent interview with former GOP clown car occupant, rapist/murderer-releasing Baptist minister-without-a-theology-degree Mike Huckabee. (Think Progress):
Read more

-NE: Westboro Protest Draws Student Counter Protes
BY ANDREW J. NELSON AND KATIE FRETLAND | WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS | Omaha
World Herald
Members of a Kansas church that protests at the funerals of slain service members fled the right-of-way near Omaha Central High School on Friday because police said they could not protect them from hundreds of student counterprotesters. Students threw hamburgers and bottles of lemonade and milk at several members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., students said after the protest. A video of the protest - recorded by 16-year-old student Mason Hartwell - showed one counterprotester on the ground, seated with his hands behind his back and flanked by two law enforcement officers. Students chanted "Diversity," "Obama" and "Gay is OK." At one point, they broke into a chant of the Pledge of Allegiance, yelling, "Liberty and justice for all," according to the footage. After students dispersed, a flier remained on the ground reading "Zona libre de odio" - Spanish for "Hate-free zone." Read more


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Indefinite Detention
The Supreme Court should make clear that a president cannot seize and detain indefinitely individuals in the United States without charges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/opinion/25tue2.html?ref=opinion

-Bin Laden's Driver to Be Returned to Yemen
Salim Ahmed Hamdan will be released from Guantánamo Bay to serve the final month of his sentence in Yemen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/washington/26gitmo.html?hp


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

-Adrift With Two Captains
Having two presidents is starting to feel like having no president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/24/AR2008112402117.html


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

-'Novel take' on tenure of President Bush
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
We should be ashamed of how poorly we have treated President George W. Bush. That, believe it or not, is the thesis of a bizarre opinion published the day after the election in The Wall Street Journal by one Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, described as an investigative reporter, a lawyer and a former intern for, of all people, John Kerry. It's one of two rather eye-opening Journal pieces, actually; the second, following just days later, was by a former presidential aide named Jim Towey. Under the headline Why I'll Miss President Bush, he sang hosannas to the decency and compassion of W., even going so far as to invoke Mother Teresa. Which is, shall we say, a rather novel take. But it is Shapiro's piece that will give you whiplash. In his view, Bush has struggled manfully in the service of an ungrateful nation, reached out in a spirit of true bipartisanship and received for his efforts nothing but ''crushing resistance'' and constant scorn.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/782541.html


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 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.


~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Miami judge rules against Florida gay adoption ban
A Miami Dade Cirucut judge ruled today that a gay man and his partner should be able to adopt the two foster children they have raised for four years. Circuit Judge Cindy S. Lederman "these children are thriving. These words we don't often hear within these walls. That's uncontroverted," said Circuit Judge Cindy S. Lederman.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-1125-adoption-ban,0,2041136.story

-Swim coach waives bond on child porn charges, will remain in jail while awaiting trial
A Pine Crest School swim coach facing a federal charge of possession of child pornography won't immediately seek to be released from jail on bond while awaiting trial. In a six-minute hearing in a Miami courtroom, Roberto Caragol told U.S. Magistrate Judge Chris McAliley he was waiving his right to seek bond.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbcaragol1125sbnov25,0,1854859.story


=
The Sunshine Cathedral
http://www.sunshinecathedral.org/
Go to the links for the following articles:

A message from Rev. Durrell Watkins
Senior Pastor - Sunshine Cathedral, Ft. Lauderdale
I want to remind you of just some of the exciting things going on at Sunshine Cathedral this season, beginning with a service of Thanksgiving. I hope to see you during this eason of grace and gratitude.

-Join Us For a Thanksgiving Worship Service & Holiday Meal - Nov. 27th
At noon, on Thursday, November 27th in the Graham/Fasana Chapel, we will be offerng our annual Thanksgiving Service. Following the service, there will be a pot luck holiday meal in the Social Hall. Turkeys are being provided. Just bring a side dish or dessert and let's be thankful together.

-Join Us For Our Mass Wedding Ceremony - Nov. 30th
At 11:30 AM, on November 30th following the 2nd worship service, Sunshine Cathedral will offer a "Mass Wedding" ceremony in protest of Florida's Amendment 2. If you and your life-partner would like to be part of this event, simply stand with us on the front lawn at 11:30 AM on Sunday, November 30th. During our "Mass Wedding" ceremony, we will affirm the holiness of mutual affection. I will then confer the Rite of Blessing on all couples in attendance. All couples, gay, lesbian, and straight who believe in marriage equality are invited to participate. Those who wish to have a certificate commemorating the Rite of Blessing can click here to register. There will be a $5 administrative fee for those who wish to obtain a certificate. Certificates will be mailed to those who register; however, one need not register or ask for a certificate in order to participate in the Mass Wedding ceremony. Finally, it should be noted that this ceremony does not confer the legal rights of matrimony or civil union; but it will send a clear message to the world that at least one church recognizes the sanctity of love and commitment regardless of the genders involved.

-Join Us For a Holiday Concert - Dec. 7th
The Sunshine Cathedral Choir & Orchestra will be performing "tonight, heaven touches earth" in the Walt Lawrence & Stephen Lewis Center for Performing Arts on Sunday, December 7th at 7:30 PM. Admission is $20. You can buy tickets at the door or online here. There will also be a live Nativity scene on the front lawn of the Cathedral at 6 PM that night.

-Join Us For Christmas Eve at the Cathedral - Dec. 24th
Our Christmas Eve services will be at the Sunshine Cathedral this year. Our services will be at 7:30 PM, 9:00 PM, and 10:30 PM. We have so much going on here at Sunshine Cathedral this holiday season. I hope you will spend the holidays with us. If you are traveling, remember that you can watch us online at
www.sunshinecathedral.org.


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Bargains drive up home sales in Broward County
With foreclosure glut, more price drops likely
Bargain hunters continue to respond to plunging prices, with October sales of existing homes in Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports rising 46 percent, to 625 from 428 a year ago, the Florida Association of Realtors said Monday. The median price plummeted 29 percent, to $252,500 from $354,000 last October.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/sfl-flzhousingbr1125sbnov25,0,6508022.story


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

-Florida shows unprecedented student-enrollment drop
In another sign of an economy gone sour, Florida schools lost nearly 24,000 students this year in an unprecedented enrollment drop. The exodus has forced districts to eliminate teachers and make other cuts because fewer students mean less money from the state.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-school-enrollment-drop-112408,0,3385126.story?track=rss

-Two Florida cities among most dangerous in U.S.
How do Orlando's crime statistics compare to cities across the nation? Right behind Compton, Calif., according to a study to be released today. The "City Crime Rankings 2008-2009" puts Orlando No. 18 among 385 cities across the nation. That's an improvement from last year, when The City Beautiful ranked No. 11 on the list of the most-dangerous cities.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-orl1124most-dangerous-cities,0,6140157.story

-Crist eyeing holiday-ban on foreclosures
Gov. Charlie Crist said today he is considering a holiday-season moratorium on foreclosures in Florida, a move similar to a 90-day foreclosure ban sought by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month. "I think it would be a good thing to be able to do," Crist told reporters at the Capitol. "I want to work with the banking industry and do it in a way that's not harmful to them. We want them to continue to succeed, to continue to loan money. But we want to stop foreclosures, especially during the holidays."
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/11/crist-eyeing-ho.html

-FOSTER CARE
Florida spends big to fight foster children's rape claims
Lawyers for the state have spent more than $1.6 million -- and counting -- to fight two foster kids who claim they were repeatedly raped in a Broward foster home.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/786351.html


=

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

GLBT DIGEST November 24, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight
Even now, at 81 and with her memory beginning to fade, Gloria Donadello recalls her painful brush with bigotry at an assisted-living center in Santa Fe, N.M. Sitting with those she considered friends, "people were laughing and making certain kinds of comments, and I told them, 'Please don't do that, because I'm gay.'"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/09aged.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


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

-Mormons' Uneasy Victory
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is becoming a potent political force. Last year's story was that Mormons had risen to some of the highest offices in America -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid belongs to the church, as does former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. This year's headline is that, with the encouragement of their religious leaders, Mormons gave loads of money and man-hours to pass Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. Indeed, they were probably the most organized and consequential force behind the measure's passage. But in the face of post-election protests outside its temples, the church doesn't seem to want to take much credit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302042.html

-Bigotry on the Bus
A week after the election, I was riding the bus home in Santa Monica when we went past one of the many protests around the city against the narrow passage of Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution to eliminate marriage rights for an entire class of people. The bus driver surveyed the situation and exclaimed, loud enough for the passengers to hear, "sodomites!" I've been so hurt and angry since my theoretically liberal and gay-friendly state passed Proposition 8 that I instantly replied, just as loudly, "Hey, I'm one of those sodomites, too!" Maybe I should have had a snappier comeback, but the driver was stunned. I'm guessing that nobody had ever stood up to him for saying something homophobic. The driver has a right to free speech and is entitled to his beliefs and opinions -- and his bigotry -- just like everyone else. However, he was a public employee in uniform, on the clock.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302039.html


=
The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-The Geithner Rally
Stuart Varney: Coming up next on "The Journal Editorial Report," stocks soar on word of Obama's Treasury pick. But who is Tim Geithner, and what would he bring to the table? Plus, bailout fever. The Big Three aren't the only ones lining up for a piece of the pie. And Mormons are taking the heat for the passage of California's Proposition 8. But who actually voted for the gay-marriage ban? "The Journal Editorial Report" begins right now.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122746392291651267.html


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Don't make a constitutional issue a religious one
As a 70-year-old heterosexual female, I find it unacceptable that some groups are opposed to gay marriage due to their religious beliefs. Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all citizens under the Constitution. Some of us live happy, fulfilled lives as agnostics, atheists or practicing our own spirituality. Allowing a religious group to dictate who can marry whom is not in keeping with the Constitution. Civil marriage is not a sacred religious ritual. It allows couples to share benefits and privileges as well as to love each other legally. Our Founding Fathers had wisdom and vision to include separation of church and state in the Constitution. Religious beliefs of some of the people should not interfere with the liberties of others. The Constitution was so brilliantly written of the people, by the people and for the people - all the people, without discrimination.
Jane Brownley, Lauderdale by the Sea
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-brmail188pnnov24,0,4816559.story


=
GLAAD
http://www.glaad.org/

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's
"The Best & Worst of National News"
October 2008

THE BEST

-Op-ed in Chicago Sun-Times Voices Need for Inclusive Hate-Crime Legislation
The Chicago Sun-Times published an opinion piece reflecting on the prevalence of hate crimes against LGBT people at the 10-year remembrance of Mathew Shephard's murder. In his October 17 op-ed, "Expand hate-crimes law to cover transgender people," Ricky Garcia, the Public Policy Director of Equality Illinois, highlights the dangerous lack of comprehensive federal and statewide hate-crime legislation. Garcia draws upon his personal experience working in Illinois, and speaks to the need for gender identity to be included in the state's hate crimes law, which currently only encompasses sexual orientation. Most brutal attacks in the state have been against transgender people and those who do not fit traditional gender stereotypes. Garcia says, "unfortunately, as shown by the news, gay and transgender folks here in Illinois and across the country are too often the victim of brutal hate crimes."Â He also points to the recent murders of Lawrence King in California and Angie Zapata in Colorado as two tragic examples that highlight the dire need for inclusive state and federal hate crime legislation.
READ ARTICLE:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1226870,CST-EDT-open17.article
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact Ricky Garcia and the Chicago Sun-Times to thank them for drawing attention to the urgent need for inclusive hate crime legislation.
CONTACT:
Ricky Garcia
Equality Illinois
RGarcia@EQIL.org
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/aboutus/feedback/index.html

-Denver Post Shares Moving Story of Family's Loss
Monica Zapata, the sister of Angie Zapata, an 18-year-old woman who was brutally murdered in her home because she was transgender, shared her story in the Denver Post on October 7. In "Ten years after Matthew Shepard, no change," Monica paints a moving portrait of her sister Angie and the ramifications her murder has had on her family and friends. She calls upon readers to stop hate crimes, pointing out that not enough change has happened since Matthew's death, and that LGBT youth continue to be victims of hate-motivated violence. She says, "My sister and Matthew were both torn down in their prime. At the threshold of their lives, they were brutally torn down and denied the opportunity to achieve their hopes and dreams." Monica highlights the need for federal hate-crimes legislation and reminds readers that the time has come to end violence against LGBT people.
READ ARTICLE:
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_10661633
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact the Denver Post to thank them for giving space to Monica Zapata's powerful story about her sister Angie and for encouraging readers to take a stand against hate.
CONTACT:
Denver Post
newsroom@denverpost.com

-Associated Press Explores Experiences of Gay Seniors
The Associated Press drew attention to the estimated 2.5 million gay seniors in America and the challenges they face in an October 4 article titled, "Gay elders' distinctive challenges get a closer look." In his story reporter David Crary highlights the recent partnership between the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), and shares the stories of several LGBT seniors and how they have worked to overcome a lack of familial and institutional support. Ruth Juster, an 85-year-old lesbian Crary profiles, illuminates the need for increased outreach to gay and lesbian seniors, explaining, "Society looked down on us. A lot of people remained under the influence of that prejudice and kept their lives secret. We have to reach these seniors and let them know life is much different now. You have to speak up."
READ ARTICLE:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbmzVvRgA33htx6YKPcbkfvQzTywD93JPUI00
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact David Crary and the Associated Press to thank them for increasing awareness about LGBT seniors and the challenges they face.
CONTACT:
David Crary
dcrary@ap.org

-"Choice" Issue Debunked Los Angeles Times
Following Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's comments prior to the election implying that being gay is a "choice," the Los Angeles Times published an October 8 opinion piece by Nathaniel Frank titled, "Gay is a choice?" Frank, of the Michael Palm Center, a public policy group that works on LGBT issues, debunks the legitimacy of the choice argument. He says, "calling homosexuality a choice is the time tested way politicians signal their belief that it is the wrong choice." On Palin's assertion that her gay friend has made a choice to be gay, Frank writes, "if Palin's gay friend is like other gays and lesbians, her sexual orientation is neither a choice to be tolerated nor a sentence to be served. It's an expression of her freedom to be herself, a freedom that, as Palin said in the debate, 'is always just one generation away from extinction.'" Frank's op-ed is a reminder that rhetoric that inaccurately suggests sexual orientation is a choice can be used as a justification for discrimination and intolerance towards LGBT people.
READ ARTICLE:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-frank8-2008oct08,0,7682829.story
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact the Los Angeles Times to thank them for providing a space for this clear and convincing argument against the baseless assertion that being gay is a "choice" and the discrimination that is validated by this argument.
CONTACT:
Los Angeles Times
letters@latimes.com


THE WORST

-Glenn Beck and James Dobson Make False Claims About Prop 8
Prior to the elections, an episode of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck featured an interview with James Dobson, head of the anti-gay organization Focus on the Family. The subject of the interview was Proposition 8, which since has passed, and will eliminate future marriages for same-sex couples in California. Beck and Dobson made repeated false and misleading claims about Prop 8, suggesting that if it was not passed churches would be called "organizations of hate." Dobson continued by saying "There's no question about it. If Proposition 8 fails, there will be a spate of lawsuit against churches â?¦." Dobson then repeated discredited assertions about schools, saying, "all textbooks would have to be republished" and "everything in schools will change." By giving an uncontested platform to an anti-gay activist to state falsehoods about Prop. 8, CNN Headline News and Glenn Beck perpetuated the kind of fear and misinformation that contributed to the passage of Prop 8.
WATCH CLIP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRjM9cUSfvU
TAKE ACTION:
Glenn Beck, whose program will move to Fox News in 2009, has made repeated anti-LGBT remarks on his program. GLAAD urges you to contact the Fox News Channel and remind them that the LGBT community and our allies will continue to hold Beck accountable if he continues to make inaccurate and misleading claims about our community.
CONTACT:
Mr. John Moody
Senior Vice President, News Editorial
FOX News Channel
moody@foxnews.com
Ms. Sharri Berg
Senior Vice President, News Operations
FOX News Channel
sharri.berg@foxnews.com

-Radio Station Gives Anti-Gay Activist Platform to Attack Transgender Youth
Kentucky News Talk radio station WKYX's gave Richard Nelson of the anti-gay group The Family Foundation of Kentucky a platform on the outlet's website to perpetuate misinformation about medical care for transgender youth. Nelson made a baseless and fallacious attack on Dr. Norman Spack, a pediatric endocrinologist in Boston who provides care and treatment to transgender youth. Nelson falsely claims both that the treatment is permanent and makes the false assertion that it is "the first step necessary for a sex-change operation." Expressing a blatant disregard for the struggles transgender children encounter, Nelson dispassionately states, "When little Johnny comes in for a checkup wearing a dress and women's jewelry, has it ever occurred to anybody, including his parents, that he should be told to wear pants and stop playing with Barbies?" These kinds of uninformed attacks disregard the expertise of medical and psychological professionals, and only serve to perpetuate distortions and fear of transgender people.
READ ARTICLE:
http://www.wkyx.com/local-news-details.asp?NewsID=7927
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD urges you to contact WKYX news editors and tell them not to make cheap, sensational grabs for ratings by attacking transgender youth and deceiving audiences about medical decisions that they make with their families and doctors.
CONTACT:
WKYX News Email
news@wkyx.com

-Dr. Phil Show Fails to Present a Fair and Accurate Dialogue on Transgender Children
On the October 29th episode of Dr. Phil, Dr. Phil McGraw interviewed transgender children and their parents. Also on the show to discuss gender identity were Dr. Dan Segal, a clinical psychologist from UCLA, and Glenn Stanton of the anti-LGBT organization Focus on the Family. While Segal's dialogue was backed by research and medical experience, Stanton was not a credited or unbiased source in any way. While we encourage informative dialogue, the Focus on the Family representative was not an expert on developmental issues or transgender children and should not have been presented as a professional counterpart to Dr. Segal. Stanton baselessly asserts that children develop transgender identities when their parents fail to enforce gender roles.
WATCH CLIP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqL1glxmSmQ
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact the Dr. Phil Show and voice your concerns about the platform afforded to the anti-LGBT organization, Focus on the Family, which allowed them to perpetuate misinformation about transgender children. Ask why producers presented Glenn Stanton as an equal counterpart to Dr. Dan Segal when Stanton lacks expertise or credentials in the fields of psychology, medicine or transgender issues.
CONTACT:
Stephanie Granader, Producer
Stephanie.granader@cbsparamount.com
http://www.glaad.org/2008/BestAndWorst/Oct2008.htm


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

-Haggard bounces back after gay hustler scandal
Earlier this month, a guest took the pulpit at Open Bible Fellowship in Morrison, Ill., a 350-member church surrounded by cornfields. The speaker was an insurance salesman from Colorado named Ted Haggard. The former superstar pastor, disgraced two years ago in a sex-and-drugs scandal, had returned - this time as a Christian businessman preaching a message that was equal parts contrition and defiance. Haggard linked his fall to being molested in second grade and apologized again.
http://www.365gay.com/news/haggard-bounces-back-after-gay-hustler-scandal/


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

-Democratic Supermajority No Guarantee for Gay Progress
The 2008 election may already be one for the record books, but triumphant Democrats are still vying for an elusive political prize -- the 60-seat supermajority required to overcome Republican filibuster attempts and advance their legislative agenda swiftly beginning in January. But what are the odds of actually getting 60 seats -- and will it really push gay rights to the front of the line?
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid66842.asp

-A Fortune 500 Take on Prop. 8
The old saying goes that every cloud has a silver lining. And on November 5, the day after California voters stripped same-sex couples of the right to marry, so many around the country were searching for one. Although thousands of individuals, organizations, and businesses donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, not one Fortune 500 company is among those names. But on the opposite side, the side of fairness and basic rights, you'll find some of the nation's most successful and powerful corporate players.
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid66784.asp

-Chevy Volt: The Jolt GM Needs?
Launching a new vehicle while the American auto industry is asking Congress for a $25 billion bailout might seem like illogical timing, but for General Motors and the people behind Chevy Volt, it's essential. With their backs against the wall, GM is rolling out their much-anticipated first plug-in electric vehicle -- and focusing their marketing efforts on the gay community.
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid66725.asp


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

-Commentary: What if 52 percent voted not to let blacks drink at the
fountain?
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader
by Merlene Davis image
After 52 percent of California voters decided earlier this month to ban same-sex marriage in their state, gay rights activists there and throughout this nation took to the streets demanding a right unrelated heterosexuals are granted without question. A majority of the voters in California, Florida and Arizona recently determined that because of their sexual orientation, because they don't fall in love with the same people they would, gays cannot legally validate that relationship or gain the same financial benefits through a marriage contract as heterosexuals do.

-Candace Gingrich: A Letter to My Brother Newt Gingrich
Source: Huffington Post
by Candace Gingrich
Dear Newt,
I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices ofthe far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, "There you go, again." [.] Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign. I can see why you're sounding the alarm against the activists who use all the latest tech tools to build these rallies from the ground up in cities across the country. [.] This is a movement of the people that you most fear. It's a movement of progress -- and your words on FOX News only show how truly desperate you are to maintain control of a world that is changing before your very eyes.

-Commentary: Good reasons to support, none to oppose
Source: The Providence Journal
by Bob Kerr
The question came up during an appearance by David Gergen at Roger Williams University last week. A student expressed her happiness at the election of Barack Obama and, at the same time, her disappointment over the vote in California to rescind the right of gays to marry. It was an emotional mix felt by a lot of people after the election - joy over Obama's victory and deep disappointment over the anti-gay vote in California.

-Florida: Antigay-rights activist seeks to ban same-sex benefits
Source: St. Petersburg Times
Seeking to capitalize on statewide passage of a gay marriage ban, a leading antigay-rights activist is setting his sights on same-sex domestic partnership benefits. David Caton, executive director of the Florida Family Association, says he will seek a change to the Hillsborough County Charter in 2010 to pre-emptively ban same-sex benefits for county employees. Efforts to recruit volunteers and collect signatures from voters to get the issue on the ballot will begin early next year, he said.

-Analyzing the Two Key Arguments in The California Supreme Court Case
Regarding the Anti-Same-Sex-Marriage Proposition Eight
Source: FindLaw's Writ
by Vikram David Amar
Read full article here. This week, the California Supreme Court decided to hear a case posing two important questions. The first is whether the voter-adopted state constitutional ban on gay marriage passed in the November election, Proposition 8, was validly enacted. The second is - assuming Proposition 8 was indeed validly enacted -- what is the status of the same-sex marriages that were entered into between the California Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling last spring and the enactment of Prop. 8? (As readers will recall, the court had previously ruled in May 2008 that the then-existing statutory ban on same-sex marriage violated the state constitution.)
http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/amar/20081121.html


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

-Homophobic church advert criticised by advertising standards body
An advert placed in a local paper in Northern Ireland by Sandown Free Presbyterian Church ahead of this summer's Pride event in Belfast breached the Advertising Standards Authority code. The 540-word ad was placed in the Belfast News Letter on August 1st, the day before Pride.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9652.html

-Trans people will get two ID cards under government plans
People who are in the process of gender reassignment will be able to apply for two ID cards, it has been revealed. The government's controversial ID card system is voluntary, and the new £5 billion scheme has been criticised by opposition parties and civil liberties groups.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9650.html

-South African gays picket Human Rights Commission over 'hate speech' article
Gay rights advocates in South Africa have attacked the country's Human Rights Commission for failing to comment on the case of a columnist who wrote a homophobic newspaper article.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9653.html

-Video: Turkey slaughter backdrop for Sarah Palin's bizarre interview
She electrified the Republican party base during the US Presidential elections with her hunting and shooting hockey mom persona. Sarah Palin is even tipped as a candidate for President in 2012.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9649.html


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

-One Step Forward, Three Steps Back
By Mary Shaw | Online Journal
On Election Day, tolerance in the USA took a huge step forward with the election of our first African-American president. On at least three other fronts, however, tolerance took a step backwards in a somewhat different direction. Californians passed Proposition 8, to ban same-sex marriage in that state. Similar marriage bans were approved in Florida and Arizona. While an African American can now win election to the highest office in the land, gays and lesbians remain second-class citizens, and cannot enjoy all of the benefits that the state has to offer, simply because of whom they happen to be sexually attracted to. It is absurd. I hear all kinds of excuses: If you allow a man to marry another man, the next thing you know, people will want to marry their pets. Sorry, folks, but that Rick Santorum slippery-slope argument is as ridiculous today as it was when it was used to oppose interracial marriage 45 years ago. Read more

-World Conference on HIV/AIDS Eradication
AFRICAN STUDENT ORGANIZATION PRESENTS
WORLD CONFERENCE ON HIV/AIDS ERADICATION
KINGS HOTEL HALL LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
DECEMBER 18TH-21TH 2008
African Student Organization upholds the international agreements to protect lives, the most important of which is the 1998 Convention on the Rights to live. The Convention recognizes a range of rights related to human protection, and calls upon countries to honor their obligations to uphold these rights.

-Votes on Gay Marriage Bans Expose Vulnerability of Progressivism
By JONAH GOLDBERG | KansasCity.com
Barack Obama's victory was a huge victory for self-described progressives. Arguably the most liberal presidential nominee in American history, Obama has given some very old ideas an aura of new coolness. Congrats on all that. Hope it works out for you. But something interesting happened on Election Day that didn't get much attention. Bans on gay marriage were on ballots in several states, and they all won. In fact, gay marriage bans have ultimately passed in all 30 of the states in which they were on the ballot. The ban in California was particularly intriguing. Proposition 8 would have failed in the Golden State if it were up to white voters, who opposed it by a 51-49 ratio. What carried it over the top was enormous support from black voters, with about 70 percent of them backing it.

-The Ugly Backlash over Proposition 8
John Diaz | San Francisco Chronicle
A supporter of Proposition 8, fed up with what he believed was the gay community's and "liberal media's" refusal to accept the voters' verdict, fired off a letter to the editor. "Please show respect for democracy," he wrote, in a letter we published. What he encountered instead was an utter lack of respect for free speech. Within hours, the intimidation game was on. Because his real name and city were listed - a condition for publication of letters to The Chronicle - opponents of Prop. 8 used Internet search engines to find the letter writer's small business, his Web site (which included the names of his children and dog), his phone number and his clients. And they posted that information in the "Comments" section of SFGate.com - urging, in ugly language, retribution against the author's business and its identified clients.

-Sanctified Discrimination
By Giles Fraser | Guardian
To what extent did the recent passing of the anti-gay marriage law in California have to do with black homophobia? Here's a hornet's nest of a question. But as California voters turned out to choose their next president they also got the opportunity to vote for or against gay marriage. Surprisingly perhaps - after all this is California - they voted for the ban: 52 % voted for it, 48 % against. One of the explanations for this is that black voters turned out in their droves to vote for Barack Obama and that black voters went 2 to 1 against gay marriage. So, does this enable us to speak of black homophobia?

-Letters to President-Elect Obama: Tammy Baldwin
From The Advocate December 16, 2008 Letters to President-elect Obama:
Tammy Baldwin
Dear Mr. President,
Congratulations on your election. You take office in a time of great uncertainty both nationally and internationally. Your words and actions now will have serious consequences for this and future generations. In your campaign you expressed your belief in the fortitude of the American people and the promise of the American Dream. As you address the urgent, interdependent challenges we face with the economy, energy, climate change, and health care, I believe you will rightly call on and rely on the American people to work together, and with you, to solve these pressing problems. Indeed, the affirmation of "We the People" is the starting point of our Constitution and its effort to "form a more perfect Union." More than 200 years since those words were penned on parchment, we are still striving. Americans have always risen to meet challenges head-on and are more than ready to work with you to restore our nation's strength and image. But we will never achieve the full promise of America until all of our people are treated equally under the law.


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 24, 2008

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


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

-Democrats' Stimulus Plan May Reach $700 Billion
Spending Package Would Rival Financial System Bailout
Facing an increasingly ominous economic outlook, President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats are rapidly ratcheting up plans for a massive fiscal stimulus program that could total as much as $700 billion over the next two years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302064.html?hpid=topnews

-Much to His Chagrin, 'Plain Old Barack Is Gone'
Obama nourished his soul on a life of routine in Chicago, friends say. Now they hope he can find comfort in a city he has never embraced.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302505.html?hpid=topnews

-Friend of The Obamas To Be Social Secretary
Naming of Rogers Will Raise Profile of White House Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302555.html?hpid=topnews

-As Bush's Term Ends, Some Big Names Seek Pardons
With a backlog of applications piled up at the Justice Department, high-profile criminals and their well-connected lawyers increasingly are appealing directly to President Bush for special consideration on pardons and clemency, according to people involved in the process.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302097.html?hpid=topnews

-China's Lifeline to the U.S.
For weeks the world has eagerly awaited word from the Obama transition team about the people who will head up the next administration -- the new secretaries of state and treasury, the attorney general. But one of the more crucial positions in the Obama administration probably isn't going to be filled for months and is likely to get little attention when it is -- the post of U.S. ambassador to China.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/fareed_zakaria/2008/11/china_can_provide_recession_re.html


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Citigroup rescue includes $20B cash injection, guarantee on billions in assets
Rushing to rescue Citigroup, the government agreed to shoulder hundreds of billions of dollars in possible losses at the stricken bank and to plow a fresh $20 billion into the company. Regulators hope the dramatic action will bolster badly shaken confidence in the once-mighty banking giant as well as the nation's financial system, a goal that so far has been elusive despite a flurry of government interventions to battle the worst global crisis since the 1930s.
http://origin-www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sns-ap-citigroup,0,4146247.story


=
A Free Google Service
Here's a number worth putting in your cell phone, or your home phone speed dial: 1-800-goog411. This is an awesome service from Google, and it's free -- great when you are on the road. Don't waste your money on information calls and don't waste your time manually dialing the number. I am driving along in my car and I needed to call the golf course and I don't know the number. I hit the speed dial for information that I have programmed. The voice at the other end says, "City & State." I say, "Garland , Texas ." He says, "Business, Name or Type of Service." I say, Firewheel Golf Course." He says, "Connecting" and Firewheel answers the phone. How great is that? This is nationwide and it is absolutely free! Click on the link below and watch the short clip for a quick demonstration.
http://www.google.com/goog411/


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 24, 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.


~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

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

-Committed couples
My wife and I marked our 26th anniversary during the summer. Of the couples we know who have been together longer than we have, most are gay.
JEFF DONNELLY, Miami Beach
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters/story/784928.html


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

-Sea Monster opens; At The Boulevard closes
Club news throughout South Florida
Sea Monster, the Fort Lauderdale institution of nightlife, has officially re-opened in its original location on the Las Olas River. The club had originally closed when real estate investors wanted to use the property for a condo development of some sort; but now that the market is having some rather unfortunate troubles, that deal isn't moving forward-which means the club is safe (for now), and it's open for business once again.
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#22588


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Florida unemployment highest in 15 years
Florida's unemployment is at its highest point since December 1993, according to a report released today by the state's Agency for Workforce Innovation. Florida's unemployment rate rose in October to 7 percent, exceeding the national rate of 6.5 percent.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-1121floridajobless,0,7421918.story

-Soft-drink company put up hard fight against Broward County
Deal after 6-year fight with county has firm leave Plantation base Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports government has seldom encountered a fighter as dogged as the maker of Shasta. National Beverage Corp. wanted to stay in its headquarters at One University Drive in Plantation, even though the county bought the building from its landlord. Its legal challenges have stretched over six years. A high-profile team of lawyers sought as much as $62 million in damages from the county.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flboffice1124sbnov24,0,4748769.story


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

-Two Democrats trade barbs to win Broward leadership post
Now that Broward Democrats are finished ripping Republicans, they're ready to rip each other.
Former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch is challenging Mitch Ceasar for chairmanship of the county's Democratic Executive Committee. The job includes no paycheck but carries clout: The chairman recruits candidates, fires up activists and mingles with everyone from presidential contenders to local hopefuls in Florida's Democratic stronghold.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/785014.html


=

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

GLBT DIGEST November 23, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Op-Ed Columnist: Marriage on the Rocks
Dianne Feinstein is not sure she'll ever be able to watch the movie "Milk," even though she's in it. There is 1978 footage of a stricken Feinstein in the opening minutes of the new Gus Van Sant biopic of Harvey Milk, her colleague on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the first openly gay elected official in American history. (Sean Penn soars as Milk.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/opinion/23dowd.html?ref=opinion


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

-In the Presence of the Past
Vienna's Complicated History Is Never Too Far Out of Reach
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112101484_pf.html

-Gay Rights Group Names New Executive Director
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/22/AR2008112201968_pf.html


=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-. . . as party faces big challenges over core principles
In the 2008 election, Republicans lost more than the White House. They lost seats in the House, Senate, and offices all across the country. The numbers show the extent of the problem: Nationally, Democrats carried the black vote by 90 points, the Jewish vote by 45 points, the youth (under 30) vote by 40 points, and the Hispanic vote by 30 points. The only demographic the GOP won was individuals over the age of 65.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum23watsonsbnov23,0,7568130.story

-Gay marriage ban faces review
The California Supreme Court, which sanctioned same-sex marriage in May, has agreed to review lawsuits challenging a new ban on gay marriage. The case centers on Proposition 8, which states, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California." The measure, passed Nov. 4 by California voters 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent, has ignited protests nationwide.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flabreakgaywed1123sbnov23,0,5445612.story

-'Geeked out' kids can learn vital tech skills socializing online
Web has replaced mall, soda fountains
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzonlineteen1123sbnov23,0,1122499.story


=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Go to the links for the following articles:
Contact rays.list@comcast.net if can't access the article

-Don't Give African-Americans a Pass for Homophobia
The injection of race into the analysis of Proposition 8's passage is extremely disappointing. A battle for equal rights has now turned into an issue of whites versus blacks. It's sad to see the smoke screen of racism when rights are being denied from Americans who pay taxes and have served their country. In the beginning, I wanted to stay out of this racialized debate on Proposition 8. However, after I read Jasmyne Cannick's opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, "No-on-8's


-White Bias," I felt compelled to speak up. Cannick is someone I deeply admire and highly respect, and she is black and gay like me; however, there is another side of this debate from the black gay community. In her piece she states, "I don't see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people. Gay marriage? Please." Cannick adds, "Some people seem to think that homophobia trumps racism." She explains, "There are still too many inequalities that exist as it relates to my race." Cannick lists important issues in the black community such as dropout rates, poverty, and incarceration.
http://www.alternet.org/story/108137


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

-Liberal Hollywood ponders next step in fight for same-sex marriage
After the passage of Proposition 8, some are calling for boycotts and firings. Others worry about free speech rights being trampled.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-shunned23-2008nov23,0,3482815.story


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 23, 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.


=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Obama Aides Signal Deeper Cuts in Taxes and Spending
President-elect Barack Obama has signaled that he will pursue a far more ambitious plan of spending and tax cuts than anything he outlined on the campaign trail - a plan "big enough to deal with the huge problem we face," a top adviser said Sunday - setting the tone for a recovery effort that could absorb and define much of his term.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/us/politics/24transition.html?hp

-Memo From Islamabad: Ringed by Foes, Pakistanis Fear the U.S., Too
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A redrawn map of South Asia has been making the rounds among Pakistani elites. It shows their country truncated, reduced to an elongated sliver of land with the big bulk of India to the east, and an enlarged Afghanistan to the west.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/world/asia/23pstan.html?hp

-New Economic Fears Arise in Michigan
The bad news keeps coming to Michigan, a state long stuck in recession and at ground zero in the national economic downturn. But unlike in months and years past, there are no exceptions to the despair, not even here among the bucolic resort communities along Lake Michigan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/us/23michigan.html?hp

-Op-Ed Columnist: The Pakistan Test
Islamabad, Pakistan. Barack Obama's most difficult international test in the next year will very likely be here in Pakistan. A country with 170 million people and up to 60 nuclear weapons may be collapsing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/opinion/23kristof.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: We Found the W.M.D.
So, I have a confession and a suggestion. The confession: I go into restaurants these days, look around at the tables often still crowded with young people, and I have this urge to go from table to table and say: "You don't know me, but I have to tell you that you shouldn't be here. You should be saving your money. You should be home eating tuna fish. This financial crisis is so far from over. We are just at the end of the beginning. Please, wrap up that steak in a doggy bag and go home."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/opinion/23friedman.html?ref=opinion


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

-World Leaders at APEC Anxiously Await Obama Administration
LIMA, Peru, Nov. 23 -- George W. Bush was the U.S. president at an economic summit here this weekend, but many foreign leaders were focused on President-elect Barack Obama instead.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112300355.html?hpid=topnews

-Obama Sets Expansive Goal for Jobs
Plan Aims to Create or Save 2.5 Million Positions by 2011
President-elect Barack Obama is developing a plan to create or preserve 2.5 million jobs over the next two years by spending billions of dollars to rebuild roads and bridges, modernize public schools, and construct wind farms and other alternative sources of energy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/22/AR2008112200656.html?hpid=topnews

-BLACKS AND THE GOP: It's My Party, But I Don't Feel Part of It
Election night was a bittersweet night for me. Like most Americans, and especially as an African American, I found it deeply moving to watch President-elect Barack Obama and his family -- soon to be our nation's first African American first family -- stride onstage for his victory speech. I welcome the positive role models they'll present to black families and the American public at large.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002959.html

-CLOSE-MINDED: Closed-Minded on the Border
The day after the Nov. 4 presidential election, I was chatting with a young immigrant from Sudan as I waited to do a radio interview. He was gushing over the election results. "Can you imagine when he puts his hand on the Bible and says, 'I, Barack Hussein Obama'?" he said, putting the emphasis on the middle name. "It is amazing."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002990.html

-INNOVATION NATION: Why Detroit Can't Keep Up
It has become conventional wisdom that the reeling U.S. auto industry desperately needs to innovate. The hard part for Detroit is working out how.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002972.html


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

-Op-Ed Columnist: Time for Him to Go
Thanksgiving is next week, and President Bush could make it a really special holiday by resigning. Seriously. We have an economy that's crashing and a vacuum at the top. Bush - who is currently on a trip to Peru to meet with Asian leaders who no longer care what he thinks - hasn't got the clout, or possibly even the energy, to do anything useful. His most recent contribution to resolving the fiscal crisis was lecturing representatives of the world's most important economies on the glories of free-market capitalism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/opinion/22collins.html?_r=3&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

-Political Punch: Summers to Be Top White House Economic Adviser at NEC
ABC News has learned that President-elect Obama has decided to name former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers the director of the National Economic Council, essentially the president's senior economic adviser.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/11/summers-to-be-c.html

-Editorial: The Price of Our Good Name
Americans have watched in horror as President Bush has trampled on the Bill of Rights and the balance of power. The list of abuses that President-elect Barack Obama must address is long: once again require the government to get warrants to eavesdrop on Americans; undo scores of executive orders and bill-signing statements that have undermined the powers of Congress; strip out the unnecessary invasions of privacy embedded in the Patriot Act; block new F.B.I. investigative guidelines straight out of J. Edgar Hoover's playbook.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/opinion/23sun1-1.html

-Obama aide promotes job plan, warns automakers
President-elect Barack Obama wants the new Congress to approve massive spending and fresh tax cuts in January, "a big number" probably far distancing a $175 billion campaign proposal, so he can sign it after taking office, top aides said Sunday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112300423.html

-Obama fills out White House communications team
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary and reached outside his inner circle for the post of White House communications director.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-11-22-obama-communications_N.htm?csp=34

-Obama's win a nightmare for al-Qaida
Just when it seemed the insults hurled at Barack Obama had reached the apex of absurdity, al-Qaida weighs in with a bit of retro name-calling of its own. In a video released last week, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the top deputy to Osama bin Laden, denounced Obama as a "house Negro" and compared him unfavorably to "honorable black Americans" such as the late Malcolm X, the black nationalist who practiced Islam.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2008/11/23/tucked_1123.html

-Why the Geithner Pick Is Even Better Than You Think
A few weeks ago, I wrote a profile of Tim Geithner that explored his relationship with Larry Summers during their eight years together at Treasury in the 1990s. The two men had formed such a productive partnership that I wondered if there were some way of reuniting them under Obama. Invariably the answer from sources was "no." Both had achieved "principal" status (Geithner spent the last five years as president of the New York Fed, Summers was Bill Clinton's final Treasury Secretary) and there was, alas, only one top job.
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/11/22/why-the-geithner-pick-is-even-better-than-you-think.aspx


-Reports: Passing Universal Healthcare Could Kill The GOP
Barack Obama's selection of Tom Daschle as Health and Human Services Secretary, as well as "health reform czar," signals that the incoming president is serious about passing comprehensive healthcare reform. Over at the think tank Cato, Michael Cannon warns that blocking any such legislation is vital for the GOP's survival (h/t Kos):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/22/reports-passing-universal_n_145769.html


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST November 23, 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.


=
~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Disgraced former Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne shouldn't get pension
It's hard to blame former Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne for trying to win back his estimated $134,500-a-year state pension. If somebody told me there was a way to reclaim a big prize on a semantic technicality after multiple federal felony convictions, heck, I'd hire a lawyer and take my chances, too. With final documents submitted last week, Jenne's pension battle is now in the hands of J.D. Parrish, a Tallahassee-based administrative judge. A decision is expected in 30 to 60 days, according to Mark Herron, Jenne's attorney.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol1123sbnov23,0,4767202.column

-GOP malaise: Republicans approaching irrelevance . . .
Florida giveth, and Florida taketh away: This state has a certain bittersweet symmetry for Republicans. They exulted after George W. Bush finagled our electoral votes in 2000. Karl Rove was chafing at the bit to engineer their permanent domination of government. This year, John McCain's dying candidacy was resurrected when Charlie Crist helped him win our primary. But ultimately, reliably red Florida went blissful blue for Obama.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-sgcol23sbnov23,0,4223460.column

-By the numbers: Medicare drug and health care plan choices
140: Medicare prescription drug plans and health care plans offered to Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports residents for 2008.
125: Plans offered in Palm Beach County.
Jan. 1: Enrollment deadline, although health plan members have until March31 (but will pay a penalty).
Numbers to call: For general advice on choosing a plan, contact the Medicare Rights Center at medicarerights.org or 212-869-3850, or the Center for Medicare Advocacy at medicareadvocacy.org or 860-456-7790. The Sun Sentinel has also posted an online guide comparing plans available to South Floridians at SunSentinel.com/medicare.For information: Find far more details via Medicare's online comparison tool at medicare.gov. You can call a counselor from Medicare at 800-633-4227 or from Florida's Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Elders at 800-963-5337.
They can look up information and advise you.
Bob LaMendola
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flztbythenumbers1123sbnov23,0,4854693.story

-Florida's jobless level hits a 15-year high of 7 percent in October
The jobless level in Florida hit a 15-year high of 7 percent in October, it was reported on Friday. And on the same day, President Bush extended jobless benefits up to 13 weeks to ease the pain of rising unemployment nationwide.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flzjobless1122sbnov22,0,6552866.story

-Let the guilt of good fortune goad you into giving to local food banks
'Tis the season to let the guilt of good fortune goad you into giving
Guilt is a beautiful thing, really. Morals and values have the rep. But they're overrated. Guilt is what really gets things done. What gets us to call Mom and recycle and give when we actually feel like taking. We're moving into prime guilt season. Next Thursday is the annual National Day of Gorging, when we Americans overeat until turkey oozes from our eyeballs. Some people call it Thanksgiving because we're all supposed to give thanks for our many blessings. Which, to me, sounds like the very definition of
guilt. The guilty season - the five weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve - is when the Salvation Army pot gets some much-needed action. When people find pocket change for the homeless. When soup kitchens and food pantries receive the bulk of their donations. But this year, guilt has lost some of its pop. "Donations are down 50 percent in the past two years, while demand has gone up 100 percent," said Ruth Mageria, of C.R.O.S Ministries' food pantry in Lake Worth. The financial wreck at the intersection of giving and needing is having real and immediate consequences for families who visit the food pantry. In the past, families were able to pick up a large bag of groceries every month. Now they are eligible for that relief once every six months. "I've had to turn away four families," said Lynne Piser, one of 30 volunteers at the food pantry. "It's killing me." It's likely to get worse. "We could be out of food by mid-December. And the reality is that if we don't have food in the pantry, we have to shut down," Mageria said. Like at many other food pantries and soup kitchens, the majority of the people who walk through Mageria's doors are the working poor. She estimates they compose 60 percent to 70 percent of her clients. The newcomers these days often have skills and are recently unemployed. Linda Gove, who runs Boca Helping Hands, sees the same thing at her soup kitchen-pantry. "We're seeing educated people coming in for the first time," Gove said. "They've had their lights out for two weeks, they're renting and desperate not to be evicted. We recently had a police officer - a Broward County Sheriff's Office deputy - who came in." "All you have to do is look at our calendar," said Laurie Sullivan, who schedules interviews for new clients. "We used to have one or two interviews a day. Now, we're getting four or five."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpralph1120pnnov20,0,2345914,print.column


=
Steve Rothaus
http://www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Saturday with '1,000 Homosexuals'
* Gay comedy about Anita Bryant suddenly gets new relevance
* Performance, writing give depth to Anita Bryant
I attended Saturday's performance of 1,000 Homosexuals at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. (Not quite 1,000 -- 200 (including a few heterosexuals) attended the sold-out performance.)
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/11/saturday-with-1.html


=

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