GLBT DIGEST - February 19, 2009

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

-Official Resists Effort to Tame Raucous Race
By JESSE McKINLEY
The annual Bay to Breakers event here is one of the nation's largest footraces and perhaps the only one where spectators have been regularly confronted by runners in various stages of inebriation and the states of undress that such drinking can inspire.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19frisco.html?scp=3&sq=gay&st=cse


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

-Valenti's Sexuality Was Topic For FBI
Under Pressure, LBJ Let Hoover's Agents Investigate Top Aide
By Joe Stephens
When Beltway insider Jack Valenti died two years ago at age 85, he was playing the role of intermediary between Washington and Hollywood as the theatrical, snowy-haired president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/18/AR2009021803819.html


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

-After Prison, Few Places for Sex Offenders to Live
Georgia's Rules That Keep Some Convicted Felons Far From Children Create Challenges for Compliance, Enforcement
By STEPHANIE CHEN
After two years of fitful searching, Christopher Noles and his family finally found a modest three-bedroom house in rural Georgia. The bedrooms are cramped, the kitchen plumbing leaky. There isn't a neighbor in sight. But the lonely old house is a last refuge. Mr. Noles is one of nearly 16,000 sex offenders convicted in Georgia who, under state law, can't live or work within 1,000 feet of a church, school, day-care center, skating rink, park, swimming pool or any other place where children gather. Failing to register an address could mean 30 extra years in prison for a convicted sex offender.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123500941182818821.html


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

-Kanye West: 'Should be said as a compliment ... Dude, that's so good it's almost ... gay'
From Details profile, The Unraveling of Kanye West:
"Titles are very important. I like to embody titles, y'know, or words that have negative connotations, and explain why that's good," he says. "Take the word gay-like, in hip-hop, that's a negative thing, right? But in the past two, three years, all the gay people I've encountered have been, like, really, really, extremely dope. Y'know, I haven't, like, gone to a gay bar, nor do I ever plan to. But where I would talk to a gay person-the conversation would be mostly around, like, art or design-it'd be really dope. From a design standpoint, kids'll say, 'Dude, those pants are gay.' But if it's, like, good, good, good fashion-level, design-level stuff, where it's on a higher level than the average commercial design stuff, it's, like, gay people that do that. I think that should be said as a compliment. Like, 'Dude, that's so good it's almost . . . gay.'"
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/

-Domestic partnership bill introduced in Florida Legislature
An e-mail from Equality Florida:
Historic Domestic Partnership Legislation Introduced
Sen. Eleanor Sobel (Hallandale Beach) has introduced a statewide Domestic Partnership bill (SB 1642). Equality Florida has been working closely with Sen. Sobel in preparing this historic legislation. The companion bill will be sponsored in the house by Rep. Richard Steinberg (Miami Beach). As a Miami Beach City Commissioner, Rep. Steinberg played a key role in passing Florida's strongest Domestic Partnership policy.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-Obama to retain White House AIDS office
Candidates being interviewed to fill post left vacant by Bush
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Obama administration officials are in the process of selecting a director for the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, a position once known as the nation's AIDS Czar.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24086

-Stimulus allows 'discretionary' funds for HIV prevention
AIDS funding earmark stripped from $787 billion measure
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Congressional negotiators last week agreed to drop a House-approved provision from President Obama's polarizing economic stimulus package that allocated $335 million for prevention programs to counter HIV and other communicable diseases.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24081

-Obama appoints gay fundraiser to White House role
Bernard to be liaison for National Endowment for the Humanities
By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade
President Obama has appointed a gay man who helped raise funds for his presidential campaign to a role in the White House, according to a Democratic source.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24085

-Attorney says client faces 'death sentence' if forced to return to Sierra Leone
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
A gay man from the African nation of Sierra Leone is contesting a
preliminary U.S. immigration decision to deny his request for political asylum. Federal officials say the man, 29-year-old Dunrick Sogie-Thomas of Hyattsville, Md., failed to provide sufficient evidence that he would be subjected to arrest, torture and possibly death if forced to return to his home country.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24079

-Ohio Presbyterians OK clergy in same-sex couples
Pastors, elders voted to amend church constitution
Presbyterian church leaders from central and southern Ohio have approved the idea of clergy members who are in same-sex relationships. Pastors and elders from the Presbytery of Scioto Valley voted Tuesday to amend the Presbyterian church constitution, which now states clergy must be in a faithful marriage between a man and a woman or be celibate. An elder from the First Presbyterian Church of Waverly spoke of his gay son and said it was time to end discrimination. But a pastor from Lewis Center opposing the amendment said the church must stand up for the Bible's teachings about marriage and sexuality. The Ohio church body is one of at least 10 that have voted for the change. At least 25 have rejected it. Dozens more have yet to vote.
http://www.floridablade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24077

-Recharging the fight against HIV/AIDS
Celebrate National Condom Week by protecting yourself
By JOHN PETER DALY and RICK MENDIOLA
It was a rainy day and all the kids piled out of the school bus and began to swarm around something on the ground. I thought, was it a dead animal or a slug?
http://www.floridablade.com/2009/2-12/view/columns/5534.cfm

-Recharging the fight against HIV/AIDS
Celebrate National Condom Week by protecting yourself
By JOHN PETER DALY and RICK MENDIOLA
It was a rainy day and all the kids piled out of the school bus and began to swarm around something on the ground.
http://www.floridablade.com/2009/2-12/view/columns/5534.cfm


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

-Unzipped Shoots Portland Mayor's Former Lover
Beau Breedlove, the former lover of gay Portland, Ore., mayor Sam Adams, has accepted Unzipped magazine's offer to be featured on the magazine's May cover and traveled to Los Angeles this weekend for a nude photo shoot, editors announced on Tuesday.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid73235.asp

-Calif. House Committee Opposes Prop. 8
California's house judiciary committee passed a resolution opposing Proposition 8 on Tuesday, saying that the ballot initiative to end marriage equality in the state was an "improper revision of the California constitution."
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid73319.asp

-Clinton Supports Overturn of Prop. 8 but Still Crosses Gay Picket Line
Despite pleas from several activists and public figures not to do so, former president Bill Clinton crossed a picket line of about 200 people to deliver a speech on Sunday in San Diego. He still, however, stood behind his opposition to California's Proposition 8.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid73232.asp


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

-Gay Plays Promote Tolerance
By Emma Ruby-Sachs, Blogger, 365gay Agenda Blog
Last week I went to see a production of Stupid Kids. You know, the John C. Russell play about four kids in a 1980s American high school that has been produced and re-produced over and over again in most major American cities since its premier in 1989. The play's story is familiar, at least for me: a whole lot of angst in school bathrooms, falling in love with your best friend over and over again and not really understanding what is going on, writing bad poetry you contemplate showing the object of your affection only to tear it up and hide it under the bed.
http://www.365gay.com/blog/ruby-sachs-gay-plays-promote-tolerance/

-65 million condoms for Carnival
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
(Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) Carnival is condom season in Brazil, where the government has announced it will hand out 65 million free prophylactics to partiers this month.
http://www.365gay.com/news/65-million-condoms-for-carnival/

-Coming to the defense of gay Republicans
By James Withers, contributing editor, 365Gay Blog
My Log Cabin brothers and sisters are in deep doo-doo if I'm defending them; however, it is hard not to recognize the loony tunes in Peter LaBarbera's screed against the group. The president (translation: professional bigot) of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (translation: homophobes who publish crappy scholarship) sent RNC chair Michael Steele a letter asking him to keep gay Republicans at arm's length.
http://www.365gay.com/blog/021809-christian-activist-smears-log-cabin-republicans/

-UK: Anti-Gay ad violated standards
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
(London) Britain's advertising watchdog has banned the re-publication of an ad that condemns homosexuality.
http://www.365gay.com/news/uk-anti-gay-ad-violated-standards/

-Teacher accuses principal of nixing 'Rent' over gay characters
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
Drama students at Corona del Mar High School were busy Wednesday learning the lines and music to "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" after "Rent" the spring musical they were in rehearsals for was cancelled.
http://www.365gay.com/news/teacher-accuses-principal-of-nixing-rent-over-gay-characters/

-The future of gay news media
By Wayne Besen
In one of the most important articles of the year, Walter Isaacson wrote in Time Magazine about the shredding of the newspaper business. With free content available online, people are dropping daily subscriptions and newsstand sales are declining. The only way for newspapers to remain profitable is through advertising revenue in the print and online editions.
http://www.365gay.com/opinion/besen-the-future-of-gay-news-media/


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

-Welcome to Al-Fatiha's historic survey of Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and questioning or exploring their gender identity and/or sexual orientation (LGBTIQQ), including Muslims who use other cultural and ethnic terms to refer to their own experience. This survey is for Muslims of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and Muslims of all beliefs and practices, including observant Muslims, cultural Muslims, and those who are secular. This is the first survey of its kind. The results of this survey will tell us all about our community, our experiences and our concerns. The results will guide Al-Fatiha's educational and advocacy work on behalf of LGBTIQQ Muslims, and will be shared with the entire community.
http://al-fatiha.org/survey.htm


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Forwarded from Michael Emanuel Rajner
merajner@gmail.com
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-Ft. Lauderdale: Denise King, surviving mother of Simmie Williams, Jr., spoke of her incredible grief exclusively in her first television interview with CBS-4 News Ted Scouten. In today's interview Denise shares her grief and struggle for police to bring her child's murdered to justice. To view the CBS-4 News interview, visit: This Sunday, February 22nd at 7pm, students of FAU's Lambda United will be organizing a memorial on the murder site, NW 10th Avenue & West Sistrunk Blvd. / NW 6th Street to increase awareness of this 1 year unsolved murder. Please honor Simmie and support the leadership of FAU's Lambda United students and attend Sunday's memorial.
http://cbs4.com/video/?id=71449@wfor.dayport.com


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

-God Hates Fags preacher will be denied entry says UK Border Agency
Two American fundamentalist Christians have been excluded from entering the UK after they threatened to protest in Basingstoke.

-Hip-hop star Kanye West claims to have reinvented the word 'gay'
Rapper Kanye West has claimed that the word 'gay' should not be an insult. Instead, the 808s and Heartbreak star said that the term will be used in future as synonymous with fashionable and stylish.

-Utah Senator brands gays the 'greatest threat to America'
Senator Chris Buttars has revealed homophobic attitudes in a new documentary.
The senator compared gays to Muslim fundamentalists and claimed that they have no morals.

-West Virginia anti-gay marriage group posts sniper video
The Family Policy Council of West Virginia has posted videos on YouTube and its websites warning voters that gay marriage threatens heterosexual families.

-Teen pop star reveals he was victim of male rape
The lead singer of 1970s supergroup the Bay City Rollers has spoken for the first time about his years of torment after being raped by another man.

-Holocaust was God's punishment for Jews claims Muslim leader
An Islamic preacher who called for gay people to be put to death has caused further outrage with his comments about the Holocaust.

-Labour's gay group asks for ban on God Hates Fags church members
LGBT Labour has written to the Home Office asking that members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church be refused entry into the UK.

-Burundi rejects proposal to criminalise homosexual relations
The Senate of Burundi today rejected a proposed amendment to the new draft of the criminal code that would have criminalised homosexual conduct for the first time.

-Republican politician tries to ban gay couples from adopting in Kentucky
A state Senator in Kentucky has introduced a bill that will ban "co-habiting" couples from adoption. Human rights group The Fairness Campaign called Senator Gary Tapp's bill "deceptively-worded."

-Holocaust was God's punishment for Jews claims Muslim leader
An Islamic preacher who called for gay people to be put to death has caused further outrage with his comments about the Holocaust

-Republican politician tries to ban gay couples from adopting in Kentucky
A state Senator in Kentucky has introduced a bill that will ban "co-habiting" couples from adoption. Human rights group The Fairness Campaign called Senator Gary Tapp's bill "deceptively-worded."


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

-Action: Tell President Obama: Stop Discrimination NOW
We had hoped for more than this. When then-Senator Obama announced his plan for the Faith-Based Initiative last summer, his comments on government-funded religious discrimination were encouraging. When outlining the principles of his plan, Obama clearly stated: "if you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion."

-McCain Manager to Speak at Gay Republicans Convention
On Top Magazine
Senator John McCain's presidential campaign manager is scheduled to speak at
the national convention of the Log Cabin Republicans - the gay Republicans -
in April.
Steve Schmidt is expected to speak on Friday, April 17, the second day of the group's four-day Washington D.C. gathering. The former Bush advisor and 2006 campaign manager for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will discuss McCain's campaign strategy and the "Party's path forward," according to a Log Cabin blog post. Read more

-Truth Wins Out Joins Coalition of N.C. Organizations to Counter Infamous
'Ex-Gay' Road Show
Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org
TWO Joins Coalition of North Carolina Organizations to Counter Infamous 'Ex-Gay' Road Show
New Landmark Publication, 'Ex-Gay & The Law', To Be Unveiled At Friday Press Conference
Truth Wins Out (TWO) announced today that it has joined a coalition of North Carolina gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocates responding to Focus on the Family's Love Won Out conference, which encourages people to "pray away the gay." Led by the Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE), there will be a week of educational events in Charlotte designed to get correct information to the public about the danger of ex-gay programs. The coalition will also offer honest and accurate depictions of the lives of GLBT people, to counteract the distorted view offered by Focus on the Family. More . . .

-Ohio: Two Groups Now Working to Save Cleveland Partner Registry
Eric Resnick | Gay People's Chronicle
Cleveland-By the time Cleveland's domestic partner registry hits the ballot next fall, there will be two separate campaigns working to save it. Rifts over campaign strategy and personality clashes have divided Cleveland Families Count, which seeks to preserve the registry. Part of that group has left and is forming a second campaign that is yet unnamed. The registry, passed by city council on December 8 and signed two days later by Mayor Frank Jackson, was immediately attacked by anti-gay ministers and lay people. They began collecting petition signatures to force the measure onto the ballot, where they hope voters will repeal it. Cleveland Families Count, formed in December, now is composed mainly of the people that lobbied city council last year to pass the registry. The group forming the second campaign says that the lobby group did not anticipate the backlash and was unprepared for it. Read more

-Creeping Religious Rightism in the Democratic Party
Frederick Clarkson | Talk2Action
For several years we have noted strands of creeping religious rightism in the Democratic Party. We have noted, among other things, that some political consultants were advising candidates not to talk about separation of church and state because it might offend "people of faith," and that ostensibly progressive religious leaders were internalizing an anti-secular world view indistinguishable from the leaders of the Religious Right. (I summarized these themes in an article in The Public Eye last summer.) Moiv wrote a ground-breaking piece on Jim Wallis and his views on the criminalization of abortion. And Chip Berlet posted an urgent statement declaring that human rights are not political commodities:

-Legal Battle in US Federal Court after HIV+ Woman Denied Surgery
Pink News
A 35-year-old American woman living with HIV who was denied surgery to remove her gallbladder because of her status has filed a federal lawsuit. Melody Rose's case is supported by gay equality advocates Lambda Legal and the AIDS Resource Centre of Wisconsin (ARCW). The lawsuit was filed today in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Ms Rose says the defendants -- Steven Cahee, MD, Agnesian HealthCare Inc, and Fond du Lac Regional Clinic, violated four different state and federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its state law counterpart, which both prohibit disability discrimination by places of public accommodation, including healthcare providers. Read more

-NM: Domestic Partnership Advance to Full Senate
Gwyneth Doland | New Mexico Independent
SANTA FE - After a dramatic set of votes in the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday afternoon, domestic partnership legislation moved toward consideration by the full Senate. Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, an Albuquerque Democrat, cast the critical vote allowing the bill to proceed. Sanchez's absence from the room during a vote on Feb. 3 resulted in a 5-5 tie that effectively held Senate Bill 12 in limbo. Afterward, Sanchez said had she been there, she would have voted against domestic partnerships. But today she changed her mind. After a first round of voting, from which she was absent, Sanchez came into the committee room and the bill was put to another vote. Read more


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