GLBT DIGEST - December 28, 2009

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
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Gay Candidates Get Support That Causes May Not
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
When an openly gay woman won the mayor’s race here this month, it was the latest in a string of victories by gay candidates across the country, a trend that seems to contradict the bans on same-sex marriage that have been passed in most states in recent years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/us/28candidates.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse/

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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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Gays, lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military
SLOWLY BUT SURELY, the groundwork continues to be laid for the overdue demise of "don't ask, don't tell." The latest move came on Dec. 22 when Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and 95 House colleagues sent a letter to the Pentagon requesting statistics on troops discharged for violating the wrong-headed ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. They want everyone to see the effects of the policy on the military and the national defense. This has the added benefit of reminding Americans of the law's absurdity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/27/AR2009122701653.html/

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

Gallery | Gay Night in Downtown at Chez Mia
Here are pictures I took at the Lady Gaga concert tickets giveaway Sunday night at Countdown 2010 Chez Mia. Performing: Wild Child DJ Lazaro Leon & DJ George Ferrero - Hosted by celebrity Marytrini y Las Divas
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/12/gallery-gay-night-in-downtown-at-chez-mia.html/

Democrat eyeing Kennedy seat avoids family legacy; remains supportive of DOMA repeal
By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press
BOSTON -- Attorney General Martha Coakley may be the front-runner in the race to fill the late Edward Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat, but she is crafting a campaign largely free of the Kennedy mystique. Although she shares Kennedy's position on key issues and is appealing to the same liberal Democratic voters who returned him to office during his 47 years in the Senate, Coakley is helping usher in a post-Kennedy Massachusetts - a state whose politics have been inextricably linked to the family for generations.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/12/democrat-eyeing-kennedy-seat-avoids-family-legacy-remains-supportive-of-doma-repeal.html/


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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Fla. gov hopeful McCollum: It's not about Crist
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
It's not hard to find policy areas where Republicans Bill McCollum and Gov. Charlie Crist have differences. Gambling, restoring ex-felons civil rights, abortion, the federal stimulus, energy and others. Attorney General McCollum is considered a conservative policy wonk and Crist is a populist who prefers to think in general terms while leaving the details to staff.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/v-print/story/1400412.html/

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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
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Suspect Released Over Murder of Gay Ohioan
By Michelle Garcia
The suspect linked to the murder of a 23-year-old gay man from Findlay, Ohio was released on bond after a hearing in the Toledo Municipal Court. Norman Corggens, 20, was arrested but not charged for the deadly attack on Marland Woods, who died after being assaulted at Caesar's Showbar, a Toledo-area gay establishment. Woods, 33, was beaten after a large barfight spilled out of the bar and into the street, according to The Courier newspaper. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital December 13 from severe head injuries.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/12/28/Suspect_Released_Over_Murder_of_Gay_Ohioan/

Race to Overturn Iowa Gay Marriage Begins
By Advocate.com Editors
Opponents of same-sex marriage in Iowa say they plan to push hard in the 2010 legislative session for a vote on a constitutional amendment that would limit marriage to one man and one woman.
http://www.advocate.com//News/Daily_News/2009/12/27/Race_to_Overturn_Iowa_Gay_Marriage_Begins/

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Daily Queer News
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/
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I've changed my mind about attitudes to gay marriage
I had to revise my views about the hope for same-sex marriage when two north American cities legalised it in the same week
By Melissa McEwan
When I sat down to think about what has pleasantly surprised me, or disappointed me, over the last decade, it was on the day that the Mexico City assembly voted to legalise same-sex marriage, declaring its new definition of marriage to be "the free uniting of two people". This, mere days after Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty signed the district's marriage equality bill. Two north American capital cities legalising same-sex marriage within a week of one another – and Ottawa didn't get in on the action only because there's no need – is something I don't believe I imagined would be possible at the start of this decade.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/28/goodbye-noughties-ive-changed-my-mind-about-attitudes-to-gay-marriage/

Mexico City legalizes same-sex marriage, adoption
by Rex Wockner
Mexico City’s Legislative Assembly voted 39-20 to legalize same-sex marriage Dec. 21. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard supports the measure and will sign it.
http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=100441/

Thousands of Spanish Catholics march against abortion and gay marriage
Tens of thousands of Spanish Catholics marched in Madrid against the socialist government's policies on abortion and gay marriage.
By Edward Owen in Madrid
At a huge rally in the capital, Cardinal Antonio Rouco, the leader of Spain's Roman Catholics, told protesters the birth rate in Europe will be depleted unless Christian values are maintained. Catholics attended a huge open air mass beside Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6896330/Thousands-of-Spanish-Catholics-march-against-abortion-and-gay-marriage.html/

Church: Pro-Gay Marriage Mexican Politicians 'Dangerous'
By On Top Magazine Staff
The Catholic Church has lashed out at Mexico City lawmakers who approved a gay marriage bill widely expected to become law. City legislators led by the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (Partido de la Revolution Democratica, PRD) overwhelmingly approved the bill on a 39 to 20 vote that included five abstentions. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill only effects Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities with nearly 9 million residents.
http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5048&MediaType=1&Category=24/

Russian Orthodox Church Leader Patriarch Kirill on Gay Rights
Filed by: Bil Browning
"We respect the person's free choice, including in sex relations. The religious tradition of almost all nations has treated homosexuality as a sin. Those who commit a sin must not be punished... And we have repeatedly spoken out against discriminating people for their nontraditional sexual orientation."
-- Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill on gay rights during a formal meeting with the secretary general of the Council of Europe, a pan-European human rights body.
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/12/russian_orthodox_church_leader_patriarch_kirill_on.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BilericoProject+%28The+Bilerico+Project%29/

Number Of Openly Gay Elected Officials Nearly Doubled In The Last Decade
By Joe.My.God
The New York Times says that instead of same-sex marriage, a better barometer of public opinion on homosexuality is the decade's avalanche of openly gay elected officials. Currently there are at least 445 gays and lesbians holding office, an increase of almost 200 in the last eight years. Some political scientists say the rise in openly gay candidates’ winning public office is a better barometer of societal attitudes than are the high-profile fights over same-sex marriage. “Gay marriage ballot measures are not the best measure,” said Patrick J. Egan, a political scientist at New York University who studies issues surrounding gay politicians. “They happen to be about the one issue the public is most uncomfortable with. In a sense, they don’t give us a real good picture of the opinion trend over the last 30 years.”
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/12/number-of-openly-gay-elected-officials.html/

CPAC Organizers: GOProud Can Attend But Cannot Speak About LGBT Rights
By Joe.My.God
Bowing to increasing pressure from the religious right, organizers of the 2010 CPAC say that while they will allow GOProud to attend and co-sponsor the event, they will not be given an opportunity to speak. Because gay rights are not open to debate.
CPAC director Lisa De Pasquale told Hot Air last week that she was “satisfied” that GOProud “do not represent a ‘radical leftist agenda’ and thus “should not be rejected as a CPAC cosponsor.” But David Keene, the head of CPAC’s main organizing group, tried to calm the potential boycott by using a different tactic. In an e-mail to a right-wing radio host, Keene promised that GOProud would not have a speaking spot and that gay rights issues would not be “open to debate” In his e-mail response, Keene admitted GOProud “has signed on as a CPAC co-sponsor, but will have no speakers and we told them that, in fact, since opposition to gay marriage, etc are consensus positions (if not unanimous) among conservatives, these topics are not open to debate.”
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/12/cpac-organizers-goproud-can-attend-but.html/

It’s an issue when Republican Presidents are Silent about natural disasters, but not one when a Democrat is silent about terrorist attacks** and popular uprisings* against anti-American tyrants
Posted by B. Daniel Blatt
Five years ago, there was much bellyaching in the media about how the callousness of the President of the United States for not making a public statement about the tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands, displaced an equal number (if not more) and causes untold damage to property and the landscape, even changing the coastline in some regions. When then-president Bush did not speak out, it was deemed a sign of his indifference, evidence that the recently reelected president was out of touch.
http://www.gaypatriot.net/2009/12/27/its-an-issue-when-republican-presidents-are-silent-about-natural-disasters-but-its-no-problem-if-a-democrat-is-silent-about-terrorism-and-popular-uprisings-against-anti-american-tyrants/

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