GLBT DIGEST - May 25, 2009

**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:

Dance Judge’s Apology
Compiled by FELICIA R. LEE
He’s sorry, says Nigel Lythgoe, a judge and executive producer on the popular reality competition show “So You Think You Can Dance” according to a statement by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The organization had mounted a “call to action” against Mr. Lythgoe after he made what the group considered homophobic remarks about the male dance duo Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel last week. “I think you probably alienate a lot of our audience,” Mr. Lythgoe said on the show last Thursday after the couple performed a samba. “I mean, we’ve always had the guys dance together on the show, but they’ve never really done it each other’s arms before,” Mr. Lythgoe said. “Do you know what? I’d like to see you both dancing with a girl.” In an apology included in the official statement released by the alliance, Mr. Lythgoe said, in part: “I sincerely regret the fact that I have upset people with the poor word choices and comments I made.” Producers of the show apologized too, “if any viewers were offended” by the remarks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/arts/television/25arts-DANCEJUDGESA_BRF.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse

Powell Jousts With Cheney on Path of Republican Party
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Colin L. Powell challenged Dick Cheney on the legacy of the Bush administration and the future of the Republican Party on Sunday, declaring that Republicans should not bow to “diktats that come from the right wing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/us/25talkshows.html?_r=1&hp


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

RachelWatch: Ticket To Deride
By Ali Davis, Contributing writer
Cheney-Gingrich 2012
Rachel led off with not so much new news as finally-sinking-in news that Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich are becoming the voices of the Republican Party.
http://www.365gay.com/living/rachelwatch-ticket-to-deride/


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

MA: Provincetown Woman Beaten in Anti-Gay Hate Crime
The Gaytheist Agenda
Provincetown is a lovely town at the tip of Cape Cod, MA. Overall it is a safe, friendly and welcoming place for LGBT people. However there are still a number of individuals who think their “deeply held religious beliefs” and related chosen bigotries give them the right to treat others hatefully, even violently. In front of an angry crowd, a man was arrested early yesterday morning and charged with a hate crime after he allegedly beat a woman on Commercial Street, police said. More . . .
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7349/

IA: Group Aims to Draw Gay Weddings
Chris Rhatigan | Iowa City Press-Citizen
After the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision last month to legalize same-sex marriage, it appears that the Iowa City area could become a hotspot for gay and lesbian weddings. A group of wedding service providers, tourism officials, hoteliers and members of the gay and lesbian communities have created an informal committee to generate ideas of how to market the Iowa City area for same-sex weddings. http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7350/

Anti-Gay March Draws Some Scores of People in Bucharest, before Pro-Homosexual One
Some scores of people, mostly young members of the Noua Dreapta (The New Right) organization, got together today at a march against homosexuality in Bucharest, displaying placards and chanting for “normality in Romania”, few hours before the annual gay parade. The participants met around 11 a.m. nearby the Romanian Athenaeum, next to several older persons who themselves are against homosexuality. “Romanians, wake up! Sexual perversions are contagious mental diseases” or “Romanians, stop the homosexual epidemic! It is more dangerous than the flue” are just some of the messages written on the placards. The participants also chorus “Romania is not Sodom.” We have nothing against homosexuals, but it bothers us so see that they make public their options and attitudes that should remain private, one of the participants at the march told NewsIn. The organizers of the normality march said they will not try to sabotage the march of sexual minorities that will take place this afternoon at 5 p.m, and added they are just trying to express their points of view through this action, said Alexandru Nastase, the leader of Noua Dreapta Bucharest. This is the fourth year in a row when such a march is organized. Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7351/

Illinois Poised to Approve Civil Unions
CHRIS JOHNSON | Washington Blade
The Illinois General Assembly is expected to approve a measure next week that would legalize civil unions, according to an LGBT activist. Rick Garcia, political director for Equality Illinois, said Thursday he’s “absolutely” expecting the full state House and the Senate to pass a civil union measure either Tuesday or Wednesday. The bill has support from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D). The House Youth and Family Committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Harris, who’s gay, intends to attach an amendment legalizing civil unions to a “shell bill” that’s already been approved by the Senate, Garcia said. If the full House votes in favor of the legislation, the bill would be sent to the full Senate within hours for a vote of concurrence. Garcia said Illinois lawmakers often use “shell bills” to pass legislation expediently. He said it’s necessary to legalize civil unions through this method because the legislative session ends May 30 and the approach limits the time that opponents of civil unions can lobby lawmakers. “We get it out of the House and then senators only have a few hours of being beat up by our opponents rather than three days or a long weekend,” he said. “Since there is a perfectly legitimate way of doing it in one day, that’s what we’re going to do.” Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7353/



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

Bishops fight for right to criticise gay lifestyle
Cross-party peers cite free speech defence to block changes to bill
Church of England bishops are on a collision course with the government over its plans to amend the incitement to hatred laws, claiming they will stifle what they believe is legitimate criticism of homosexual lifestyles. In what is being portrayed in some parliamentary quarters as a battle for free speech, a coalition of Anglican bishops, Conservative peers, Labour malcontents and leading crossbenchers have united to block the proposals. "No reasonable person supports the stirring up of hatred of any kind," said Andrea Williams, director of Christian Concern For Our Nation, which is helping co-ordinate opposition to the plan. "However, in 21st-century Britain we must find a way of being able to live peaceably alongside one another allowing for free and robust debate around every aspect of life, including reasonable criticism and discussion of all forms of sexual behaviour."
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/24/church-of-england-incitement-hatred


=
Gay American Heros
http://www.gayamericanheroes.info/

Please Honor our Heroes.. and not let there Deaths be in Vain
All People who live honestly about their sexual orientation are heroic, as it takes great strength and courage to face the daily struggles for personal freedom in the face of enormous opposition; to ultimately give their life for said freedom makes them HEROES. We Need YOUR Help TODAY! Please Adopt -A- Hero for just 25.00 and help build our Rainbow Memorial - link to see one min 3-D video of Rainbow Memorial
http://www.vimeo.com/2334727


=

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