GLBT DIGEST - June 07, 2009

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

The Right to Divorce
By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER
WHEN C. C. married C. M. in Massachusetts in 2005, they expected the marriage to be forever. The lesbian couple, who lived together on the Upper East Side, had been in a relationship for five years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/fashion/weddings/07FIELD.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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Mural memorializes victims of anti-gay crimes
FALLAN PATTERSON
In March 2007, Scott Hall watched as a news report flashed across his television screen about the murder of 25-year-old Polk County resident Ryan Skipper, who was targeted by two men for being homosexual. Hall later discovered that crimes like this were all too common, and he vowed to find a way to honor the memories of victims, those specifically targeted because of their sexual orientation. His work resulted in the formation of the nonprofit Gay American Heroes Foundation, based in Fort Lauderdale. Through the organization, Hall has designed a traveling memorial more than 7 feet high and 75 feet long made up of about 700 star-shaped metal plaques memorializing the names, ages and geographical information of hate-crime victims by attaching them to color panels. Photos corresponding to the names will appear on alternating panels. "When you murder a gay [person], he may have been the firefighter that saved your mother's life or the hairdresser who did your sister's hair for prom," Hall said. "If they were killing any other group of people — nuns, Harvard graduates — there would be a public outcry. This is our public outcry."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/fort_lauderdale/sfl-flhrbheroes0521esbmay21,0,1030444.story

Sotomayor would be court's sixth Catholic
By Rachel Zoll
If Judge Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, she will be the sixth Roman Catholic of the nine justices. But far from forming any unified bloc, the justices would represent the vast diversity of American Catholics, from weekly churchgoers to the occasional attendee.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-religion-fv-justicesbjun07,0,5008856.story


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

Want to get married? Here’s how.
By Cory Stottlemyer
Equal marriage has been on a roller coaster this year. Yes in Iowa, Vermont, Maine and - just this week - New Hampshire, which join granddaddy Massachusetts. A big NO in California. Requirements for marriage licenses vary from state to state, and couples determining where to get married can find it baffling. Here’s a state-by-state equal marriage guide:
http://www.365gay.com/living/want-to-get-married-heres-how/


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


Gays Push for Partner Immigration Rights
Matthew B. Stannard,Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer | San Francisco Chronicle
As Congress and immigrant advocacy groups gear up for the annual tussle over comprehensive immigration reform, a proposal by San Jose Rep. Mike Honda is opening up a new angle on the debate - one that some groups warn could overshadow years of effort at building consensus. Honda’s Reuniting Families Act, introduced Thursday, would extend to “permanent partners” the same naturalization rights accorded to spouses under the bill, allowing gay and lesbian Americans to seek legal residency for their immigrant same-sex partners.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7940/

PA: Lutheran Northeast Synod Assembly Votes in Reading to Back Proposal for Gay, Lesbian Pastors
John W. Smith | Reading Eagle
Northeastern Pennsylvania Lutherans voted overwhelming support Saturday for a proposal that would allow gay and lesbian pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The margins were even more decisive than in preliminary votes Friday night at the annual synod assembly in the Sovereign Performing Arts Center in Reading.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7939/

HomoQuotable–Chris Crain
Joe. My. God
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. HRC and the Democrats have been promising (with no plan to deliver) passage of a hate crime law and Employment Non-Discrimination Act for more than a decade, including before the 2006 election, and yet we are still expected to be satisfied by these same civil rights crumbs for the entire first year that Democrats are firmly in control of Washington. “In some ways, delay is somewhat more justifiable on DADT than other gay rights measures, given the implementation steps to be taken in the midst of two foreign wars. But make no mistake: if DADT waits until 2010, then relationship recognition — whether repeal of DOMA or a federal civil unions law — won’t get touched until after the midterm elections, if then.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7938/

WA: Gay-Rights Strategy Raises Issue of Privacy in Democratic Process
Lornet Turnbull | Seattle Times staff reporter | Seattle Times
Across the country, thousands who contributed to a campaign banning gay marriage in California — including some people in the Seattle area — have had their names and addresses permanently ascribed to an Internet site, along with the amount they gave and their place of employment. Last week, a Seattle gay man said he will do something similar: post and make searchable online the names and addresses of all who sign a referendum petition to recall legislation giving gay couples in Washington the benefits of marriage, except the name.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7937/

NV: How Speaker Corralled the Final Vote for Partnerships
David McGrath Schwartz (contact) | Las Vegas Sun
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 (2 a.m.)
Once the governor’s veto of the domestic partnership bill was overridden in the Senate, observers assumed that the legislation would easily make it out of the Assembly — even though the bill had been approved originally without enough votes to override. No one doubted that Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley would find the additional two votes she needed.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7936/

Ketner Apologizes for ‘Outing’ S.C. Republicans
Matt Comer | Q-Notes
June 6th, 2009
Linda Ketner, an openly lesbian 2008 South Carolina Democratic candidate for Congress, issued an apology on Friday, June 5, for comments she made claiming three Palmetto State Republicans were closeted gays. The bombshell statements were made in a FireDogLake interview on June 1.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7935/

AK: Ordiance is Simply About the Basics of Living Your Life
DON HUNTER | dhunter@adn.com | Anchorage Daily news
The following are excerpts from a recent interview with Jackie Buckley of Equality Works on the proposed city law to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Equality Works asked that the ordinance be proposed. Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7934/

AK: Gay Rights Go Before Assembly Once Again
DON HUNTER | dhunter@adn.com | Anchorage Daily News
The longest, bitterest argument in Anchorage’s social and political experience returns to center stage Tuesday before the municipal Assembly. For the third time in little more than 30 years, a proposal to ban discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals is up for public hearing and action. It arrives at the request of Acting Mayor Matt Claman, who said he was happy to sponsor it when asked to do so by members of an organization called Equality Works. The change would add “sexual orientation” to a list of characteristics — race, color, religion, age, marital status and so on — for which it is illegal to discriminate in employment, property sales or rental, education, financing and public accommodations. Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7932/

NY: Brooklyn Cops Beat Us, Say 2 Lesbians
Rachel Monahan and Wil Cruz | DAILY NEWS WRITERS | New York Daily News
Two lesbians Saturday accused cops of beating them with nightsticks while hurling anti-gay slurs at them outside of a Brooklyn lounge. The women, Jeannette Grey and Tiffany Jimenez, said five officers threw them to the ground May 17 in front of IFE Lounge in Crown Heights about 3:30 a.m. “All of a sudden cops are pushing,” Jimenez, 19, said in front of the 77th Precinct stationhouse. “I was on the floor. I had no shoes and they threw me on my back. “They’re yelling at me, ‘B—, get down!’” she added. “I’m screaming and crying. I was shocked and angry and scared.” “Tiffany and I were brutally beaten,” Grey, 31, claimed. Read more
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/7930/


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