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.

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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


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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


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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


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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/


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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


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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


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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


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

-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


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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/


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#####

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


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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


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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


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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


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#####

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


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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


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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/


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#####

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


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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


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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


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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


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#####

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


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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


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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


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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


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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!


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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/


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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


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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


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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/


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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.


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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


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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


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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


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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


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#####

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.


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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


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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


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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!


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~~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


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#####

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


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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


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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


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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/


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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


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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.


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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.


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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


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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


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#####

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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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