GLBT DIGEST - October 13, 2009

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

California: Breakaway Church Gives Up Property
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A conservative Los Angeles-area church that broke away from the Episcopal Church over theological differences and the consecration of a gay bishop is giving up its property. St. Luke’s Anglican Church in La Crescenta is being returned to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. A judge ordered the move, and the state’s Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. The congregation voted to leave the national church three years ago. The diocese sued to retain the property. The congregation has rented a chapel in Glendale and joined the new Anglican Church in North America, which was founded last year by breakaway Episcopal parishes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/us/13brfs-BREAKAWAYCHU_BRF.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=gay&st=cse/

NY Top Court to Consider Gay Marriage Benefits
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York's top court is set to hear arguments against providing government benefits to same sex couples married in Canada or other jurisdictions where such marriages are legal.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/13/us/AP-US-Gay-Marriage-Benefits.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=gay&st=cse/

For a Gay Couple, the Cost of Heartbreak
To the Editor:
Re “The Costs of Being a Gay Couple Run Higher” (“Your Money” column, by Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber, front page, Oct. 3):
As your article illustrates, marriage in America is a complex legal contract that bestows rights and responsibilities at both state and federal levels of government. Thank you for taking this debate out of the religious and into the practical. My Indian partner’s application for a new American visa was denied last month. She left the country last week, exiled from her job and our life, because same-sex state marriages are not eligible for federally administered immigration benefits. Infuriatingly, our marriage could disqualify my partner from getting a tourist, student or other nonimmigrant visa. This year, being gay has cost us $6,020 in legal fees and a one-way ticket to South Asia, not to mention heartbreak and unemployment. We should be spending this money on a wedding.
Ella Spottswood
Brooklyn, Oct. 5, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/opinion/lweb13gay.html?scp=4&sq=gay&st=cse/

State High Court to Hear Gay Marriage Cases
By Nicholas Confessore AND Sewell Chan
Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times Andrew J. Spano, the Westchester County executive, is a defendant in one of the cases. New York’s highest court will hear arguments Tuesday in a pair of cases that could have implications for the pitched debate over same-sex marriage in the state.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/states-highest-court-to-hear-gay-marriage-case/?scp=3&sq=gay&st=cse/

California Will Honor Gay Activist
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
In a surprise reversal of his veto of the same bill last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill late Sunday to set aside a day of recognition for Harvey Milk, the gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated in 1978.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/us/13milk.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse/

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

Firing Back
By Howard Kurtz
Feeling Dissed
While Anita Dunn's comments were on the record, there's another cybertizzy over a quote from an unidentified "adviser." It began when CNBC's John Harwood reported the following in a story about Sunday's gay rights demonstration and left-wing criticism of the president: "Barack Obama is doing well with 90 percent or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the Internet left fringe. . . . For a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn't take this opposition, one adviser told me those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed, and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101300534_pf.html/

30 Years of Living With AIDS
Thank you for "7,000 Gay Men Help Study AIDS" [Sept. 29]. I have been a participant at the site in Pittsburgh since the pilot study in 1982. I was told I had the virus after the test was developed that tells whether a participant's blood sample is HIV-positive. That test was developed in 1985, and doctors thought I was probably infected at least as early as 1980. I've seen an entire generation of men killed by this virus and I was described as an anomaly. I should have died long ago, but with all the new treatments, I'm 71 and this is my 30th year living with HIV/AIDS. I belong to a survivors group that meets monthly; there are only two other men who have lived two decades or more after being diagnosed as HIV-positive. We all continue to participate in the study, hoping that perhaps we can help people live for many more years with this disease.
August "Buzz" Pusateri
Pittsburgh
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101201697_pf.html/

Leadership on Gay Rights
President Obama isn't the only one falling short.
FULL EQUALITY for gays and lesbians is the civil rights issue of our time. Men and women who want to preserve and protect the ideals of this nation are being booted from the military because of who they are. Same-sex couples who seek the recognition of their relationships that their heterosexual counterparts take for granted are denied the rights and responsibilities that come from civil marriage. Ending these and other forms of institutional discrimination based on sexual orientation requires leadership. Pity there's not enough of it coming from either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202439.html/

No New Hires In Gay Police Unit
Residents Point to Rise in Hate Crimes As D.C. Initiative Is Diluted to Cut Costs
By Theola Labbé-DeBose
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier has frozen hires into the District's award-winning Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit and wants to train patrol officers to respond to the specialty calls, a plan that has drawn anger from the gay community.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101201450.html/

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

Video | ‘Hair’ star Gavin Creel performs at HRC dinner
Here’s video of gay Broadway star Gavin Creel (Hair) performing at Saturday night’s HRC dinner in Washington, D.C.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/10/video-hair-star-gavin-creel-performs-at-hrc-dinner.html/

Video | Act On Principles: ‘Full immediate rights for LGBT Americans’
On YouTube:
Inspired by The Dallas Principles call for full immediate rights for LGBT Americans, Act On Principles turns those principles into equality. What have you done to make you feel proud? www.ActOnPrinciples.org
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/10/video-act-on-principles-full-immediate-rights-for-lgbt-americans.html/

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

Sullivan to Solmonese: Resign
By Julie Bolcer
Blogger Andrew Sullivan issued a video calling for Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese to resign, saying the organization “has 20 years of zero achievement for gay rights in Washington, D.C.”
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/13/Sullivan_to_Solmonese__Resign/

Rourke Stands by Antigay Words
By Julie Bolcer
Wrestler star Mickey Rourke refuses to apologize for calling a journalist a “faggot” in a drunken outburst last November that was captured on video.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/13/Rourke_Stands_by_Antigay_Words/

Gay Sex Scene for True Blood?
By Julie Bolcer
True Blood star Stephen Moyer wants to sink his fangs into fellow actor Alexander Skarsgård. The 39-year-old fiancée of Anna Paquin would like his vampire character, Bill Compton, to have a sex scene with Eric Northman, the character played by Skarsgård, according to OK!
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/13/Gay_Sex_Scene_for_True_Blood_/

Teacher Slurs Gay, Black Men
By Julie Bolcer
A suburban Chicago high school teacher is accused of making antigay and racist remarks in front of his students this month.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/13/Teacher_Tax_Wasted_on_Gay_Black_Men/

Clinton Honors Walt Whitman in Moscow
By Julie Bolcer
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will inaugurate a monument to Walt Whitman, who was gay, in Moscow on Wednesday at a ceremony led by homophobic mayor Yuri Luzhkov. The monument will be located at the site of a recent gay pride parade that Luzhkov banned, according to UK Gay News.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/13/Clinton_to_Honor_Walt_Whitman_in_Moscow/

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

Uruguay approves bill to allow trans people to change names and gender
Trans men and women in Uruguay will soon be permitted to legally change their name and gender under a new bill passed by the government.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/13/uruguay-approves-bill-to-allow-trans-people-to-change-names-and-gender/

New York gay man in coma after 'hate crime' beating
A gay man is currently in a medically-induced coma after being attacked by two men in the street in New York.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/13/new-york-gay-man-in-coma-after-hate-crime-beating/

Gay Coronation Street star Anthony Cotton says Dannii Minogue was right to make bisexual comment
Anthony Cotton, the gay actor who plays Sean Tully on Coronation Street, has defended Dannii Minogue over her controversial remarks on The X Factor.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/12/gay-coronation-street-star-says-dannii-minogue-was-right-to-make-bisexual-comment/

Shoreditch gay pub uses reporting boxes to record homophobic attacks
A gay pub in Shoreditch, east London, has set up reporting boxes where drinkers can anonymously report homophobic attacks.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/12/shoreditch-gay-pub-uses-reporting-boxes-to-record-homophobic-attacks/

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

Has Obama Ushered in a New Era for LGBT Rights?
Nathan Black \ Christian Post Reporter \ Christian Post
President Obama’s speech this past weekend made it “abundantly clear” that America is looking at “a new era for civil rights for LGBT people,” said one gay rights advocate.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10651/

Sex Equality Guide Issued to Schools
KITTY HOLLAND \ Irish Times
The most common age for a lesbian, gay or transgender young person to become aware of their sexual identity is 12, while they are most vulnerable to self-harm at the age of 16, a new guide issued to schools today shows. It is at the age of 17 that a young person is most likely to “come out” to someone they trust. These are among the pieces of vital, basic information contained in a new guide for school principals on how to support gay and lesbian pupils.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10649/

Gay MP Chris Bryant Promoted to Europe Minister
Pink News
Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda, has been promoted to the position of Europe minister. Previously a junior minister with responsibility for Africa and Asia, the gay politician replaces Glenys Kinnock. She will now take on responsibility for Africa.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10648/

California Family Council (CFC) Issues Statement on Governor Schwarzenegger’s Signing of California Senate Bill 54
SACRAMENTO, Oct. 12 /Christian Newswire/ — Last night Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 54, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). SB 54 requires California to validate and recognize same- sex marriages performed outside the state prior to November 5, 2008, when California voters approved Proposition 8 in violation of the state constitution and the express will of the voters.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10645/

Attention: Manhattan Boro Pres. Scott Stringer: The historic Stonewall REBELLION at the landmark Stonewall Club
Stop! using the very offensive term ‘riots’! The Gay national marches on
Washington, DC evolved from the Stonewall Rebellion — not ‘riots’. When
President Bill Clinton signed “Stonewall” as a “National Registry Historic
Site”, it was described as a “rebellion” not ‘riots’. No one honors riots!
Using the term ‘riots’ to refer to a civil rights action is perjorative
and ignorant. The five civilized nights were not ‘riots’! Had you ever
attended a STONEWALL Veterans Association meeting or an SVA symposium, you
would know better but you have failed to attend. Intellectually honest
people are not interested in what others or mediums use the demeaning term
‘riots’. The word was tacticly used by the anti-Gay police bigots. Just
don’t do it!
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10643/

“Gay Men are Pedophiles” Meme Back in Full Force
Alex Blaze \ Bilerico Project
Well, it seems like hard evidence of the falseness and stupidity of the charges against Kevin Jennings weren’t enough; both Sean Hannity and the AFA are continuing to wage war against Obama’s pick for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, who is known for co-founding GLSEN, the org responsible for the National Day of Silence, Gay-Straight Alliances, and several key studies on anti-LGBT bullying in schools.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10640/

The Fundie’s Handbook
Mercedes Allen \ Bilerico Project
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That’s the way I see it, and with the steamroller momentum of birtherism, teabagging, speechies, marriage protection and the like, one can’t help but just want to take the easier road of rolling with it. Even my home Province of Alberta, Canada is swinging to the right like never before, cutting GRS funding, refusing to add protections for gender identity to human rights legislation, passing a provision to ensure that children can be evacuated before tolerance / evolution / Shakespeare / anti-bullying discussions can take place, and now handing a byelection over to a party that tells the Progressive Conservatives that they’re not nearly far right enough. So I say, hey, roll with it, nobody likes the humiliation of losing. For those who’d like to join me, here’s a few pointers.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10639/

Speaking Out Against Power is an Easy Way to Get Dismissed
Alex Blaze \ Bilerico Project
Everyone’s talking about this quotation from an anonymous White House source, breathlessly reported by John Harwood on NBC:
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10638/

Cleansing the Air at the Expense of Waterways
CHARLES DUHIGG \ New York Times
MASONTOWN, Pa. — For years, residents here complained about the yellow smoke pouring from the tall chimneys of the nearby coal-fired power plant, which left a film on their cars and pebbles of coal waste in their yards. Five states — including New York and New Jersey — sued the plant’s owner, Allegheny Energy, claiming the air pollution was causing respiratory diseases and acid rain.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10633/

Really Sick: If Your Partner Beats You, Insurance Companies Don’t Have to Give You Coverage
Jenny Gold \ Kaiser Health News \ AlterNet
In 2006, attorney Jody Neal-Post tried to get health insurance but was rejected because of treatment — counseling and Valium — she received following a domestic-abuse incident. She says the insurer told her that her medical history made her a high risk, more likely to end up in the emergency room or require additional care.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/10628/

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