GLBT DIGEST - May 18, 2009

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

Norway Song a Winner
Compiled by STEVEN McELROY
Celebratory crowds took to the streets of Oslo on Sunday to mark Norway’s victory at the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Moscow on Saturday night, the Associated Press reported. The victory for Norway came the night before that country’s annual National Day, so the hundreds of people gathered for a National Day parade on Sunday also sang along to “Fairytale,” the winning Eurovision song by Alexander Rybak, above. Mr. Rybak, a 23-year-old singer and violinist, beat 24 other contestants on Saturday night and scored the most points in the history of the pop songwriting competition. The winner was chosen through a combination of telephone voting and votes from juries representing 42 countries. The mood in Russia was not entirely festive, though: a clash between gay rights advocates and Russian riot police took place on Saturday afternoon. The police arrested about 40 demonstrators who had tried to use the popular international competition as an opportunity to draw attention to discrimination against homosexuals in Russia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/arts/music/18arts-NORWAYSONGAW_BRF.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=gay&st=cse

Republicans in Senate Lower Expectations of a Court Fight
By NEIL A. LEWIS
While there is growing anticipation that the summer will bring the spectacle of a pitched Supreme Court confirmation battle, some Senate Republicans are lowering expectations that they are planning any major political fight.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/us/politics/18judiciary.html?scp=7&sq=gay&st=cse

Norway Wins, While Russia Calls the Tune
By SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY
MOSCOW — A Belarussian-born, Russian-speaking singer representing Norway took first place in the annual Eurovision song competition held here over the weekend, against a backdrop of controversy after the police cracked down on a gay rights rally.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/world/europe/18iht-russia.html?scp=5&sq=gay&st=cse

In Midtown, Opposing Rallies on Same-Sex Marriage
By Sewell Chan
Gov. David A. Paterson urged the State Senate on Sunday to take swift action on legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry, signaling that he intends to increase pressure on lawmakers as the end of the 2009 legislative session approaches.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/in-midtown-opposing-rallies-on-same-sex-marriage/?scp=3&sq=gay&st=cse


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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Outlook: Who Is a Real Catholic?
David Gibson
Catholic Author and Journalist
Catholic author and journalist David Gibson, was online Monday, May 18, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss his Outlook article, about Catholic doctrine and current politics in light of President Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame University.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/05/15/DI2009051502841.html

Nancy Pelosi, Leon Panetta, Health Care and Peeing in Space
Perry Bacon Jr.
Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/05/14/DI2009051403258.html


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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/

Liberals Fret Over Obama's Compromises
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
President Barack Obama's decision to maintain Bush-era military commissions is the latest in a series of compromises and delays that allies on the left see as a disappointing shift away from campaign pledges.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124260169419828351.html


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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In Colorado, gays move closer to legal equality
By Jessica Fender
In five years' time, Colorado has quietly become one of the most welcoming states in the region for gays, lesbians and transgender individuals seeking the same legal rights as in liberal states.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-colorado-civil-unions-051809sbmay18,0,5400543.story

Eurovision gay rights rally ends in violence
Police officers in Moscow silence gay rights protesters
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-viral-eurovision-protest-story,0,1128595.htmlstory


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

Ujima Men's Collective Conference for black gay men to be Sept. 25-27 in West Palm Beach
Florida AIDS activist Lorenzo C. Robertson announces an upcoming event targeting black gay men -- the Ujima Men's Collective Conference, Sept. 25-27, 2009, in West Palm Beach. Here are the details:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/05/ujima-mens-collective-conference-for-black-gay-men-to-be-sept-25-27-in-west-palm-beach.html

Pioneering gay, AIDS activist Rodger McFarlane mourned after taking his own life in New Mexico
News release from GLAAD:
Statement by Friends & Family of Rodger McFarlane on his Death
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/05/pioneering-gay-aids-activist-rodger-mcfarlane-mourned-after-taking-his-own-life-in-new-mexico.html

Christian Family Coalition: 2009 statewide legislative victory breakfast a smashing success
News release from the Christian Family Coalition:
On Saturday, May 16th, the Christian Family Coalition hosted its 2009 Statewide Legislative Victory Breakfast & Marriage Champion Awards at the Miami Airport Hilton Hotel.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/05/christian-family-coalition-2009-statewide-legislative-victory-breakfast-a-smashing-success.html

Cynthia Nixon gets engaged to longtime girlfriend
From TV Guide celebrity news:
Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon plans to marry her girlfriend — in the city. Nixon announced her engagement to girlfriend Christine Marinoni in New York City at a weekend rally for same-sex marriage, Access Hollywood reports.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/05/cynthia-nixon-gets-engaged-to-longtime-girlfriend.html

7,000 women expected at Girls in Wonderland / Gay Day at Disney Women’s Weekend
News release from Yesi Leon:
Move over Snow White. Back off Sleeping Beauty. South Florida's top women's party producers Pandora Events bring a different brand of leading lady to the Wonderful World of Disney. Expect more than 7,000 women to turn out for their annual Girls in Wonderland extravaganza, one of the largest lesbian event in the state, June 4-7 in Orlando.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/05/7000-women-expected-at-girls-in-wonderland-gay-day-at-disney-womens-weekend.html

Proper manners: Outing closeted legislators?
An Advocate.com exclusive posted May 16, 2009
Proper manners say outing is a violation of a person's privacy and not to do it. But when it comes to antigay politicians who lead double lives, Emily Post might make an exception.
By Steven Petrow
Many folks laugh when I tell them I've written a manners and etiquette book, usually thinking it's simply about stationery and place settings or that it's a tome for snobs or what's left of the idle rich. Hardly. In fact, the controversial new documentary Outrage, which outs a closet of elected officials, raises the perfect manners conundrum: Is naming names of closeted politicians good or bad manners and what does that answer say about our contemporary values and mores? To read the complete article, click here.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/05/proper-manners-outing-closeted-legislators.html


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

OPINION: Caught, Cutié seeks shelter in spotlight
By DANIEL SHOER-ROTH
A spiritual person shuns the cameras and fame, because the ego is the antithesis of the spirit. Therefore, no one who is truly spiritual goes around broadcasting that fact.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1053370.html

Congo ex-rebels accused of rape and killings
By ANITA POWELL
GOMA, Congo -- Congolese rebels who became part of the country's army under a peace deal are looting, raping and killing the civilians they are meant to protect, U.N. military commanders told top U.N. officials on Monday. The failure of integration efforts threatens attempts to bring peace to eastern Congo. The mineral-rich region has been torn apart by violence since Hutu militias who carried out Rwanda's genocide fled there almost 15 years ago.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1053750.html


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

Gays march through Latvian capital
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
(Riga) About 300 gays and lesbians celebrated gay pride under heavily armed police protection on the weekend in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The parade route was small - around the perimeter of Vermanes Park near the center of the city - but hundreds of people jeered and heckled the marchers.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gays-march-through-latvian-capital/

Twitter mistake causes gay marriage internet stir
By The Canadian Press
A year-old story on the California Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the state’s gay marriage ban had the blogosphere buzzing last week.
http://www.365gay.com/news/twitter-mistake-causes-gay-marriage-internet-stir/


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

Gay MP Chris Bryant forced to move house after homophobic attacks
Chris Bryant, the openly gay Labour MP for Rhondda, has said the reason he 'flipped' his second home was to escape homophobic thugs who daubed lewd messages on his main constituency property.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12482.html

Gay man stabbed to death in north London
A gay man was stabbed to death at an address in Tottenham, north London on Saturday. Daryl Phillips, 39, had been stabbed in the leg and was treated at the scene at Avenue Road, but later was pronounced dead at 3.35am.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12492.html

Ex-wife of gay minister offers public support
The former wife of openly gay Rev Scott Rennie, whose ordination is threatening to create a schism in the Church of Scotland, has spoken out in his defence.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12491.html

Fergie follows Megan Fox as the latest star to come out as bisexual
Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie is the latest celebrity to come out as bisexual. The star, who married Josh Duchamel in January, told the Sun: “Put it this way, I’ve experimented definitely, but I have never had a steady girlfriend.”
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12489.html

Uruguay lifts military gay ban
Uruguay has opted to lift a ban on gays serving in its military. The ban was imposed under the 1973-85 military dictatorship. Under it, people with "open sexual deviations", which includes homosexuality, were banned from entering the military academies.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12486.html

California appeals court upholds sentences for men who killed trans teenager
California’s First District Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed the second-degree murder convictions of two men who killed a 17-year-old trans woman.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12487.html


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

WI: State Supreme Court to Hear Case on Gay Marriage
Steven Walters of the Journal Sentinel | Journal Sentinel
Madison - The state Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear a challenge to the 2006 constitutional amendment that prohibited same-sex marriage. The order added the case to the agenda for the court’s next term, which begins this fall and ends in June 2010. No date for oral arguments was set. The challenge to the constitutional change was filed in 2007 by Bill McConkey, a Door County resident who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and who has a daughter who is gay. McConkey argued that the constitutional change was improperly put before voters in 2006, but a Dane County judge ruled against him. McConkey said voters should have been asked to vote on two separate amendments, instead of the one put before them. Lester Pines, McConkey’s attorney, said the wording of the 2006 constitutional amendment improperly asked voters to do two things: define the only valid marriage as between a man and woman and define the legal rights of the unmarried. Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7131/

PA: Openly Gay Judge Seeks Election in Philadelphia
Matthew Ray | EDGE Contributor | EDGE Boston
Overshadowed by previous elections, Tuesday’s primary remains pivotal. The headliners on the ballot are candidates for city comptroller and district attorney, but openly gay Judge Dan Anders’ campaign to seek a 10 year term on the bench could send a powerful message far beyond Philadelphia. Anders currently serves in the Family Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia. Governor Ed Rendell appointed him to the bench in 2007 to fill a vacancy after Judge James J. Fitzgerald, III, was appointed to the state Supreme Court. Anders first sought office in 2007, but his appointment made him the city’s first openly gay judge. Anders, who has heard more than 5,000 cases involving Philadelphia’s at-risk and neglected children, seeks both the Democratic and Republican nominations. Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7130/

Marriage in New York: Will It Inflame Gay/Black Tensions?
Kilian Melloy | EDGE Staff Reporter | EDGE Boston
A new poll from Quinnipiac University purports to demonstrate a race-based divide with regards to marriage equality in New York. The poll might speak to, or even spark, a potential for renewed conflict between the gay and African-American communities. In the aftermath of the vote on Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that put the rights of gay and lesbian families up for popular vote in California, media reports suggested that Black voters had overwhelmingly supported the measure, which was narrowly approved in a n outcome that threw the future legal status of 18,000 civilly wed families into doubt. Previous reports had suggested that Black Americans did not support marriage equality for gays and lesbians, but even so some in the gay community felt stung and rejected, especially given a presumption among some GLBTs that Blacks and gays should be natural allies. A rash of racial incidents, mostly verbal in nature, followed; in one instance, two Black men attending an anti-Prop. 8 rally reported that a white man hurled racial invective at them.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7129/


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