Saturday, November 21, 2009

GLBT DIGEST - November 21, 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:

Bears to End Movie Theater Chain Boycott
By SCOTT JAMES
Did their growl make a difference? The San Francisco Movie Bears announced today that their boycott of the Cinemark (Century theaters) movie theater chain will end early next year. The cinema club of hundreds of large, often-bearded gay men and their admirers has refused to patronize the chain since it was discovered that chief executive Alan Stock gave $9,999 to support Proposition 8, the 2008 California referendum that stripped gay couples of their right to marry.
http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/bears-to-end-movie-theater-chain-boycott/?scp=3&sq=gay&st=cse/

The Debate Over ‘Precious’
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” the new film about an obese, poor, illiterate, young black woman who is sexually and emotionally abused, has sparked a heartfelt and at times heated debate about its meaning in the two weeks since its limited release.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/the-debate-over-precious/?scp=5&sq=gay&st=cse/

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

From the panel
www.washingtonpost.com/onfaith
Below is an excerpt from "On Faith," an Internet feature sponsored by The Washington Post and Newsweek. Each week, more than 50 figures from the world of faith engage in a conversation about an aspect of religion. This week's question: U.S. Catholic bishops are defending their direct involvement in congressional deliberations over health-care reform, saying that church leaders have a duty to raise moral concerns on any issue, including abortion rights and health care for the poor. Do you agree? What role should religious leaders have -- or not have -- in government policymaking?
Should groups have policymaking role?
Of course the Catholic bishops have both a right and a duty to raise moral concerns on any issue in their sphere. They have a right because they are citizens. They have a duty because they are stewards of a great moral tradition in our country. We should always be grateful that morality matters, even though it is not usually comfortable when it is raised, because without moral constraints, the freedoms we enjoy would more quickly degenerate into social chaos. It is to our mutual discredit that we're now on that downward path, as we ask ourselves more often "What is my right?" instead of "What is my responsibility?"
-- Jim Daly, president and CEO, Focus on the Family
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112004035.html/

The D.C. debate continues
The Post's anti-Catholic bias continues unabated ["Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum," front page, Nov. 12]. To call the Archdiocese of Washington's announcement that it may have to discontinue certain social programs if the gay-marriage law is passed an "ultimatum" was both charged and inaccurate. The archdiocese has a long partnership with the District but was fairly alerting officials that it will not sacrifice its religious beliefs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112003629.html/

Under God
The best from this week's blog
Three former military chaplains announced support for a repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding gays in the military.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112004037.html/

A new gay Agenda? Former Blade staffers, in fact, have one
By Dan Zak
A prominent D.C. reverend who campaigns against same-sex marriage sent an e-mail to a former reporter for the Washington Blade, the gay weekly that abruptly closed after its bankrupt owner ceased operations Monday. It was one sentence long, and it was terse: The shutdown of the Blade is a sign from God.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112003953.html/

Terry Lynch
Executive director, Downtown Cluster of Congregations
As a longtime student of D.C. politics, I have been wrong before, but it is difficult to envision Mayor Fenty being reelected. The depths of the opprobrium he has engendered for supporting Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's firing of 266 D.C. teachers and other school personnel will undoubtedly hurt him. Then there are the charges of cronyism in contracting that have cost him much of the straight-shooter luster that attracted progressives. And there is gay marriage, which has split the black community and alienated many Catholics. They may take out their anger on Election Day. In the past, Marion Barry was able to overcome much because he maintained a political base that shielded him and reelected him repeatedly. But Fenty is more like Sharon Pratt Kelly or Anthony Williams in that he has something of a base among the people -- but it cannot be said to be as strong or as loyal as Barry's. Finally, the District is a city with one of the highest African American poverty rates in the nation. Amid proposals to spend $1.5 billion to reinvent a streetcar system in the city, I have heard few initiatives coming from the mayor's office that match the depths of this problem stewing in the middle of one of the greatest cities in the world. The politics of previous presidents and Congresses has papered over this issue, but any African American mayor with a conscience should address it in a big way.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112003457.html/

Sun, sand and slim pickings for the palate
The Palm Springs mystery: Where's the good grub?
By Tom Sietsema
Starting with the weather -- 354 days of sunshine -- Palm Springs has much to recommend it. If you like to swing a golf club, or if mid-century modern design is an interest, this desert city of just over 42,000 people merits a spot on your travel to-do list.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002235.html/

=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

Military must act on warning signs
THE ISSUE: Pentagon plans inquiry after Fort Hood.
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
Let's hope the latest Pentagon plan for an inquiry doesn't end up like a lot of other bureaucratic plans, in a file somewhere. Because lives and national security are at stake here. The Pentagon, in the wake of the Fort Hood tragedy, is talking about opening an inquiry into how the military keeps watch on volatile soldiers who might be hidden in the ranks. This is something that certainly should have been done before now.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorials/fl-editorial-fort-hood-20091120,0,7633263.story/

Florida's unemployment reached 11.2% in October
Rate of job loss slows
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
The rate of job loss in Florida is slowing, but there aren't enough new jobs to indicate a recovery. The state's unemployment rate in October reached 11.2 percent, the highest level since June 1975.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-oct-jobless-20091120,0,5088759.story/

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

Jackson Memorial Hospital nurses personally apologize to lesbian whose partner died there
BY STEVE ROTHAUS, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Several Jackson Memorial Hospital nurses personally apologized to Janice Langbehn, a Washington state lesbian who said a Jackson social worker wouldn't allow her to be with her dying partner in 2007.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/gay-nurses-at-jackson-memorial-hospital-personally-apologize-to-lesbian-whose-partner-died-there.html/

Florida Competitive Workforce bill filed to add anti-discrimination protections statewide
News release from Equality Florida: Equality Florida applauds the filing of the Competitive Workforce bill in the Florida House of Representative. House bill 391, filed by Rep. Kelly Skidmore, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to Florida’s civil rights statues.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/florida-competitive-workforce-bill-filed-to-add-anti-discrimination-protections-statewide.html/

Staff hand-delivers first issue of DC Agenda
Here’s a news release issued today about DC Agenda:
WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Blade, formerly the nation’s oldest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper, died on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 9:30 AM. The 40-year-old paper ceased operation under the weight of its parent company’s financial problems. Window Media’s financial condition and the exact reasons for closing the Washington Blade remain unclear. No statement has been issued by the former executives from Atlanta, Miami or New York regarding how the decision to abruptly shut down the publication was made.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/staff-hand-delivers-first-issue-of-dc-agenda.html/

Out-of-work Washington Blade staffers unite and start gay paper of their own, DC Agenda
Mark’s List to launch magazine, newspaper after South Florida Blade publisher shuts down
When publisher Window Media/Unite Media suddenly shut down this week, it also meant the end of longtime gay newspapers and magazines in South Florida, Atlanta, Houston and Washington, D.C.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/out-of-work-washington-blade-staffers-unite-and-start-paper-of-their-own-dc-agenda.html/

Conferences offering opposite views on homosexuality to converge in West Palm Beach
BY JANE MUSGRAVE, Palm Beach Post
One group believes that homosexuals can be cured and runs programs aimed at putting gay men and lesbians on a straight path. The other group believes such programs have tortured thousands of men and women, making it impossible for them to accept their natural sexual orientation and live happy lives.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/conferences-offering-opposite-views-on-homosexuality-to-converge-in-west-palm-beach.html/

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

Pope and Anglican leader agree on closer relations
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican says the pope and the archbishop of Canterbury have agreed to press for closer relations between Catholics and Anglicans despite the jolt from the Vatican's unprecedented invitation to disaffected Anglicans. The meeting Saturday between Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams was their first since the Vatican announced it was making it easier for Anglicans upset over the ordination of women and gay bishops to become Catholic.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1345141.html/

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

Judy Shepard on Mercado Murder
By Advocate.com Editors
The following statement was issued by Judy Shepard, the president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation on the murder of 19-year-old Jorge Steven López Mercado. Her son Matthew was murdered in 1998 after being targeted because he was gay. The federal hate-crimes law, which was expanded earlier this year to cover LGBT crime victims, was named after him. Dennis and I, and the entire board and staff of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, stand with all who are grieving the loss of Jorge Steven López Mercado in one of the most shockingly brutal hate crimes in Puerto Rico’s history.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/20/Judy_Shepard_on_Mercado_Murder/

Boy George to Be Locked Up on Big Brother
By Advocate.com Editors
Pop star Boy George, recently released from jail for imprisoning a rent boy in his London apartment, is to be locked up again, but this time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, reports Daily Star. The former Culture Club singer, 48, will join other celebrities in the next season of the popular British reality series and says he is the happiest he has ever been and that his stint in jail made him change for the better. “I had prison coming to me. It wasn’t that big a surprise, I kind of knew it was going to happen,” he reveals. “I just thought I’m going to make this work for me. I got a job quite quickly and worked in the kitchen,” he adds.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/20/Boy_George_to_be_Locked_Up_on_Big_Brother/

Teen Spirit
While Native American cultures have long honored people of integrated genders, a new documentary looks at a shocking hate crime against a two-gendered Colorado teenager.
By Lesley Goldberg
The new documentary Two Spirits depicts the true story of Fred Martinez, a 16-year-old Colorado teenager slain for being a “two-spirit” -- a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit living in the same body. Director Lydia Nibley pauses ahead of the film’s November 21 world premiere at the Starz Denver Film Festival to discuss Martinez’s story and the nature of gender within Native American culture.
http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Film/Teen_Spirit/

Ellen Lauds Oprah
Ellen DeGeneres credited Oprah Winfrey with inspiring her career.
By Julie Bolcer
Daytime TV talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, viewed by many as the natural successor to Oprah Winfrey, lauded the queen of daytime TV upon her announcement Thursday that she would end her show in 2011.
http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Entertainment_News/Ellen_Lauds_Oprah/

DADT Hearings Held Until 2010
By Michelle Garcia
Congressional hearings on repealing the military's ban on openly gay service members have been postponed until 2010.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/20/DADT_Hearings_Held_Until_2010/

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

Weekend vigils around US to honor slain gay teens
By Jennifer Vanasco, editor in chief, 365gay.com
Vigils will be held on Sunday across the country to honor the lives of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado of Puerto Rico and Jason “Jaysen” Mattison Jr. Both teens were brutally slain in separate instances last week.
http://www.365gay.com/news/weekend-vigils-around-us-to-honor-slain-gay-teens/

Struggling Anglican leader in Rome for papal talks
By The Associated Press
(Rome) The Archbishop of Canterbury sought Thursday to downplay the implications of the Vatican’s unprecedented invitation for Anglicans to join the Catholic Church as he arrived in Rome for his first talks with the pope on the new policy.
http://www.365gay.com/news/struggling-anglican-leader-in-rome-for-papal-talks/

Banned director brings gay romance film to Hong Kong
By The Associated Press
(Hong Kong) A prominent mainland Chinese director banned by Beijing from making movies brought his new gay romance film to Hong Kong on Friday for what is likely the last of a handful of screenings on his home soil.
http://www.365gay.com/news/banned-director-brings-gay-romance-film-to-hong-kong/

Lesbian US war deserter wins stay of deportation
By The Associated Press
(Toronto) Canada’s Federal Court says the country’s refugee board must reconsider the case of a lesbian who deserted the U.S. Army and fled to Canada.
http://www.365gay.com/news/lesbian-us-war-deserter-wins-stay-of-deportation/

Christian leaders issue ‘call of conscience’
By The Associated Press
More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms.
http://www.365gay.com/news/christian-leaders-issue-call-of-conscience/

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

Suspect in Puerto Rico teen's murder 'may use gay panic defence'
The man arrested in connection with the murder of gay Puerto Rico teenage Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado will reportedly use the 'gay panic' defence.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/suspect-in-puerto-rico-teens-murder-may-use-gay-panic-defence/

Gordon Brown and equalities minister Maria Eagle mark Transgender Day of Remembrance
Prime minister Gordon Brown has made a statement describing violence and harassment against trans people as "utterly unacceptable". He also thanked trans campaigners for their work.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/gordon-brown-and-equalities-minister-maria-eagle-mark-transgender-day-of-remembrance/

Gay Glasgow council leader Steven Purcell is Councillor of the Year
Steven Purcell, the leader of Glasgow city council, has been named the Herald's Councillor of the Year. Purcell, who is gay, was ranked at number 16 this year on PinkNews.co.uk's 50 most powerful gay, lesbian and bisexual people in British politics.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/gay-glasgow-council-leader-steven-purcell-is-councillor-of-the-year/

UNISON calls for better reporting on homophobic hate crime
Workers' union UNISON is holding its annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) conference today and tomorrow. The organisation is calling for more encouragement for LGBT victims of hate crime to report offences to police.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/unison-calls-for-better-reporting-on-homophobic-hate-crime/

Family appeals to gay community to find missing son
The father of a 14-year-old boy who went missing two years ago has appealed to the gay community to help find him. Andrew Gosden has not been seen since September 14th, 2007.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/family-appeals-to-gay-community-to-find-missing-son/

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

Berkowitz: ‘2012′–Religious Right Leader Excoriates His Own for Aiding and Abetting ‘End of Times’ Hype and Hysteria
Bill Berkowitz \ BuzzFlash
Move over Nostradamus, “Rapture” kings and queens, “End Times” prophets, and Y2K hucksters. Here comes the real “end of days” brought to you by the Mayan calendar: Not! In its first weekend, the film “2012″ was a box office sensation; it took in $225 million — $65 million domestically and $160 million internationally. “2012″ is an special effects spectacular, combining the star power of its cast with the kind of doomsday scenario — derived from the end of the Mayan Calendar –- that apparently is being lapped up by movie audiences everywhere. Talk about going global!
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11669/

US Christian Right Activists Pushing Death Penalty for Homosexuals in Poor African State
Christi van der Westhuizen, IPS News \ AlterNet
CAPE TOWN, Nov 11 (IPS) - The Anti-Homosexuality Bill under consideration in Uganda was sparked by a conference in Kampala earlier this year at which fundamentalist Christians from the U.S. identified homosexuality as a threat to “family values”.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11667/

Time to Stop the Lies
Jeff Krehely | American Progress
Same-sex couples in Washington, D.C. could soon have the same full marriage rights and responsibilities that their straight counterparts currently enjoy. The Washington, D.C. city council is considering a bill that would expand its marriage law to be inclusive of same-sex couples. This bill also calls for all sections of the district’s code related to marriage and family benefits to be updated with gender-neutral language. This change would ensure that married same-sex couples receive the same treatment under the district’s laws as opposite-sex married couples.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11666/

WA: Why Do We Hate? Academics Seek Answer in New Field
Associated Press \ 365Gay.com
(Spokane, Washington) Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Why did the Hutus hate the Tutsis? Hate is everywhere, but the fundamental question of why one person can hate another has never been adequately studied, contends Jim Mohr of Gonzaga University, who is developing a new academic field of hate studies.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11665/

=

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

Friday, November 20, 2009

GLBT DIGEST - November 20, 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.


Ft. Lauderdale: HIV/AIDS Community Town Hall Meeting
November 20, 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Dillard High School, 2501 NW 11th Street, Fort lauderdale.
The White House Office on National AIDS Policy will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting to gather input from the South Florida Community. Come and help develop the nation's first national strategy to end HIV/AIDS. This meeting is an important opportunity for residents to provide recommendations to White House staff and other policy makers. Online registration is encouraged: http://www.cmpinc.net/onap

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

Christian Leaders Issue 'Call of Conscience'
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/20/us/AP-US-REL-Christian-Manifesto.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=gay&st=cse/

Barbary Coast: Faith and Tolerance Collide in Vallejo
By SCOTT JAMES
Drive through Vallejo and you will see a once-proud Navy town clearly down on its luck. A motel room goes for $30.99 a night, including HBO. Closed businesses proliferate; those that remain often have temporary vinyl signs held up by string, indicating a tentative investment in the future.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/us/20sfmetro.html?scp=3&sq=gay&st=cse/

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

D.C. officials press for compromise on Catholic Charities
City hopes approving same-sex marriage wouldn't affect services
By Tim Craig
Some D.C. Council members and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton are reaching out to the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to see whether they can find a compromise so the Church will not end its social services contracts with the city if the council legalizes same-sex marriage.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111904001.html/

Gallery opening of the week
It's a timely moment to reflect on the birth of the gay rights movement given the controversy over same-sex marriage in the District and beyond, and artist Geoffrey Aldridge is doing just that with his exhibition at Transformer, "Geoffrey Aldridge: Hole in the Wall." The title comes from the Stonewall riots, often credited with jump-starting the gay rights movement in 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular Greenwich Village gay bar, and the patrons responded by hurling bricks, pennies and even a parking meter at the police.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111901475.html/

=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

//online.wsj.com/article/SB125865125112855917.html/

Christian Activists Unveil ‘Manhattan Declaration’; Jim Leach Speaks; Zoellick on Women’s Roles in Global Financial Crisis; Solis at Latino Lunch
By Susan Davis
A New Kind of Declaration: Christian activists are holding a new conference today at the National Press Club to release the “Manhattan Declaration.” The 4,700-plus word document has over 125 original signers and affirms opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage while endorsing religious freedom and, when necessary, civil disobedience. The document is addressed to Christians, but also members of Congress and President Barack Obama. Chuck Colson, founder of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, helped draft the document. Original signers include Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, and Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/11/20/wire-watch-christian-activists-unveil-manhattan-declaration-jim-leach-speaks-zoellick-on-womens-roles-in-global-financial-crisis-solis-at-latino-lunch/

=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

From Liberace to Cruise to Palin, Oprah Winfrey has created years of noteworthy TV moments
By Lynn Elber
Oprah Winfrey has racked up memorable moments during her long television reign. Some were moving, some embarrassing — to her or others — and a handful became pop-culture landmarks. Here are highlights through the years: Winfrey gets the final TV interview with pianist-showman Liberace, six weeks before his AIDS-related death, 1986.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sns-ap-us-tv-winfreys-big-moments,0,3347422.story/

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

Conferences offering opposite views on homosexuality to converge in West Palm Beach
BY JANE MUSGRAVE, Palm Beach Post
One group believes that homosexuals can be cured and runs programs aimed at putting gay men and lesbians on a straight path.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/conferences-offering-opposite-views-on-homosexuality-to-converge-in-west-palm-beach.html/

Task Force remembers those lost to anti-transgender violence
News release from National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 — Tomorrow marks the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, memorializing those lost to anti-transgender violence over the past year. The Task Force honors the memory of transgender people killed internationally in 2009. For more information, including a list of related events, visit www.transgenderdor.org.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/task-force-remembers-those-lost-to-anti-transgender-violence.html/

Miss California pageant gives ad time to gay group, offers equal time to ex-title holder Carrie Prejean
Associated Press
The Miss California USA pageant director who became embroiled in a war of words with former title holder Carrie Prejean has donated 30-seconds of free ad time to the state's largest gay rights group.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/miss-california-pageant-gives-ad-time-to-gay-group-offers-equal-time-to-ex-title-holder-carrie-prejean.html/

HRC: Sen. John McCain reiterates support for ‘misguided’ don’t ask, don’t tell military policy
News release from Human Rights Campaign:
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, was troubled by Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) remarks supporting the misguided Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) military policy. During Dr. Clifford Stanley’s confirmation hearing today for Undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness at the Department of Defense, Senator McCain expressed his opposition to the repeal of DADT and believes that this policy is currently working despite evidence proving otherwise, including studies from military think tanks and official pentagon publications.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/hrc-sen-john-mccain-reiterates-support-for-misguided-dont-ask-dont-tell-military-policy.html/

Tampa City Council protects transgender people by adding ‘gender identity’ to human-rights law
From Equality Florida Blog:
Equality Florida commends the Tampa City Council for expanding non-discrimination protections to those who live, work and visit the city. Tampa is the latest city in Florida to add “gender identity” to its human rights ordinance that bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/tampa-city-council-protects-transgender-people-by-adding-gender-identity-to-human-rights-law.html/

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

L.A. Confidential
What's it like to be 33, gay, and one of the most powerful people in America's second-largest city? Stressful, says Matt Szabo, the new deputy chief of staff to Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
By Neal Broverman
The Velvet Mafia has yet to break the pink ceiling within the Senate or inside governors' mansions, but gays and lesbians have successfully invaded the power circles of America's biggest cities. Sam Adams runs Portland, Ore., Christine Quinn is the speaker of the New York city council, and in December, Annise Parker has a good shot at becoming Houston's first lesbian mayor. In Los Angeles, Matt Szabo took over one of the top spots in city government when he was announced as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's deputy chief of staff in September. The 33-year-old Southern California native talks to Advocate.com about his new job at City Hall, Proposition 8, and balancing (or not balancing) career and love.
http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Politicians/L_A__Confidential/

Stanley Remains Neutral on DADT
By Kerry Eleveld
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a confirmation hearing Thursday for Clifford Stanley, a retired Marine general who has been nominated as undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness within the Department of Defense — the position that oversees the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/19/Stanley_Remains_Neutral_On_DADT/

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

Why do we hate? Academics seek answer in new field
By The Associated Press
Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Why did the Hutus hate the Tutsis? Hate is everywhere, but the fundamental question of why one person can hate another has never been adequately studied, contends Jim Mohr of Gonzaga University, who is developing a new academic field of hate studies.
http://www.365gay.com/news/why-do-we-hate-academics-seek-answer-in-new-field/

Miss Calif. pageant gives ad time to gay group
By The Associated Press
The Miss California USA pageant director who became embroiled in a war of words with former title holder Carrie Prejean has donated 30-seconds of free ad time to the state’s largest gay rights group.
http://www.365gay.com/news/miss-calif-pageant-gives-ad-time-to-gay-group/

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

Family appeals to gay community to find missing son
The father of a 14-year-old boy who went missing two years ago has appealed to the gay community to help find him. Andrew Gosden has not been seen since September 14th, 2007.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/family-appeals-to-gay-community-to-find-missing-son/

Suspect in Puerto Rico teen's murder 'may use gay panic defence'
The man arrested in connection with the murder of gay Puerto Rico teenage Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado will reportedly use the 'gay panic' defence.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/suspect-in-puerto-rico-teens-murder-may-use-gay-panic-defence/

Trans woman in Italian political scandal found dead
A Brazillian trans woman at the centre of a scandal involving an Italian politician has been found dead in a burnt-out basement.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/trans-woman-in-italian-political-scandal-found-dead/

Tatchell: 'Alan Carr and Graham Norton are camp and cliched'
Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell has said that TV executives should chose a wider range of gay presenters, not just "camp and cliched" stereotypes.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/tatchell-alan-carr-and-graham-norton-are-camp-and-cliched/

Texas 'accidentally banned all marriages'
A Texas candidate for attorney general has argued that an amendment made to the state's constitution to ban gay marriages has actually made all marriages illegal.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/texas-accidentally-banned-all-marriages/

NHS 'a world pioneer' in treating intersex babies
British doctors are becoming "world pioneers" in treating children and adults who are born with ambiguous genitals, it has been reported. The NHS treats such babies on the assumption that they should not automatically be operated on.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/nhs-a-world-pioneer-in-treating-intersex-babies/

Video: Gordon Brown records message for World AIDS Day
Prime minister Gordon Brown has recorded a video message for World AIDS Day. In the message, Brown paid tribute to the gay community in the 1980s, which he said had "led the way" on HIV and AIDS campaigning.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/video-gordon-brown-records-message-for-world-aids-day/

Newspaper roundup: New EU foreign affairs chief Cathy Ashton has strong gay rights record
In a profile published for The Guardian, Caroline Davies argues that the new European Union's new High Representative For Foreign Affairs has a strong history of standing up for equality. In 2006 she was the first recipient of the Stonewall Politician of the Year award.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/20/newspaper-roundup-new-eu-foreign-affairs-chief-cathy-ashton-has-strong-gay-rights-record/

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

Berkowitz: ‘2012′–Religious Right Leader Excoriates His Own for Aiding and Abetting ‘End of Times’ Hype and Hysteria
Bill Berkowitz \ BuzzFlash
Move over Nostradamus, “Rapture” kings and queens, “End Times” prophets, and Y2K hucksters. Here comes the real “end of days” brought to you by the Mayan calendar: Not! In its first weekend, the film “2012″ was a box office sensation; it took in $225 million — $65 million domestically and $160 million internationally. “2012″ is an special effects spectacular, combining the star power of its cast with the kind of doomsday scenario — derived from the end of the Mayan Calendar –- that apparently is being lapped up by movie audiences everywhere. Talk about going global!
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11669/

PA: Vigil for Puerto Rico Teen
Stop the Slaughter!
A Vigil will be held in Philadelphia on Friday evening, November 20th
to remember 19-year-old Jorge Lopez Mercado Lopez. Lopez, a Puerto Rican native, was found partially burned, decapitated and with arms and legs dismembered, on the side of the road near his home town Caguas, Puerto Rico on Saturday, November 14th.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11668/

US Christian Right Activists Pushing Death Penalty for Homosexuals in Poor African State
Christi van der Westhuizen, IPS News \ AlterNet
CAPE TOWN, Nov 11 (IPS) - The Anti-Homosexuality Bill under consideration in Uganda was sparked by a conference in Kampala earlier this year at which fundamentalist Christians from the U.S. identified homosexuality as a threat to “family values”.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11667/

Time to Stop the Lies
Jeff Krehely | American Progress
Download this memo (pdf)
Same-sex couples in Washington, D.C. could soon have the same full marriage rights and responsibilities that their straight counterparts currently enjoy. The Washington, D.C. city council is considering a bill that would expand its marriage law to be inclusive of same-sex couples. This bill also calls for all sections of the district’s code related to marriage and family benefits to be updated with gender-neutral language. This change would ensure that married same-sex couples receive the same treatment under the district’s laws as opposite-sex married couples.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11666/

Anti-Gay Church Sets Its Sights on Jews
Matthew E. Berger, Religion News Service \ USA Today
For more than a decade, Westboro Baptist Church has raised a ruckus with the message that God hates gays, posting itself outside government buildings, college campuses and even the funerals of American soldiers. But in recent months, the Topeka, Kan.-based church has been moving toward other targets, predominantly in the American Jewish community. Westboro Baptist members were in Washington this week to protest speeches by President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jewish Federations of North America conference. Members of the Phelps family have been to other, less high-profile sites as well, targeting synagogues, Jewish community centers and Hillels on college campuses.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11664/

Hugo Chavez on LGBT Persecution and Marriage Equality
Towleroad
In an interview conducted at the Venice Film Festival in September, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is asked his thoughts on marriage equality.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11663/

Transgender Day of Remembrance
Jessica Geen \ Pink News
Today is the 11th International Transgender Day of Remembrance. The yearly event is held to recognise and remember trans people who have been killed through hatred or prejudice.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11658/

Special Report: Sexuality and Spirituality
Arielle Clay aclay@nbcaugusta.com \ NBC Augusta
Can a gay person go straight? Many Christian groups say yes. Others say a person is born gay and can’t change. In this special report, NBC Augusta 26 News takes a closer look at this debate.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11656/

Pastor Donnie McClurkin’s Gay Church
Rev. Irene Monroe \ Bay Windows
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is the largest African American and largest Pentecostal church in the United States. It’s also the largest denominational black church in the country and the loudest in rebuking homosexuality.Many of the gospel music industry mega-stars can be heard at COGIC. The church’s charismatic worship style shouts to a black male queer gospel aesthetic making COGIC a church is conflicted with itself.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11655/

Feldblum Answers Questions at Confirmation Hearing
Gay Politics
Chai Feldblum, an openly lesbian nominee for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, today answered a question put to her by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who asked the nominee if she supported polygamy. The question came in response to a statement Feldblum had signed in support of alternative families while she was a professor at Columbia. Law Dork describes the exchange:
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11654/

US Christian Right Also Mobilizes African Clerics in US “Culture War” Over Ordination of LGBT Clergy
Public Research Association \ Public Eye
Sexual minorities in Africa have become collateral damage to our domestic conflicts and culture wars as U.S. conservative evangelicals and those opposing gay pastors and bishops within mainline Protestant denominations woo Africans in their American fight, a groundbreaking investigation by Political Research Associates (PRA) has discovered.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11653/

Right Plans “Armageddon” to Block Gay EEOC Nominee
Gay Politics
The anti-gay Family Research Council and its allies on Capitol Hill are readying a withering series of questions for Chai Feldblum, who could become the first openly LGBT member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11652/

Census Bureau Begins to Set a Good Example
Deb Price \ Creators
The 2010 Census will have a new message for same-sex married couples like Joyce and me: “You count.” Reflecting a refreshingly new era at the Census Bureau, the nation’s pre-eminent collector of data is upgrading how it deals with those of us who are gay.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11650/

=

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

Thursday, November 19, 2009

GLBT DIGEST - November 19, 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:

Philippine Gay Group Fights to Contest Elections
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A Philippine gay rights group is waging a legal battle to be allowed to run in next year's polls after the Elections Commission ruled it cannot register as a political party on grounds that it advocates immorality.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/19/world/AP-AS-Philippines-Gay-Rights.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse/

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

Marriage counseling for D.C. and the Catholic Church
Thursday, November 19, 2009
I take issue with The Post's Nov. 15 editorial "Marital discord," especially its claim that "the Catholic Church is not trying to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage in the District." In fact, the Archdiocese of Washington testified against the marriage equality bill and has supported an initiative that would bar same-sex marriages.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803621.html/

The HIV travel ban
An unfair policy comes to an end.
THE UNITED STATES is a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to assist those living with the disease and to help the uninfected stay that way. But since 1987, there has been a blot on that leadership. While the United States was urging an end to the stigma that keeps people from protecting themselves, getting tested and seeking treatment, it was one of 12 nations perpetuating that stigma by enforcing a ban on entry by people who are HIV-positive. That ended last month when President Obama lifted the prohibition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803195.html/

Bill to extend benefits to same-sex partners advances
By Joe Davidson
The effort to expand domestic benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees took another step forward Wednesday when a House committee advanced legislation to do just that.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803956.html/

Gay-marriage opponents sue to force referendum
Congress members grill D.C. officials on decision to block ballot initiative
By Tim Craig and Keith L. Alexander
The decision by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to block a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage reverberated on Capitol Hill and in the courts Wednesday as the battle continued over whether voters should have a say in the debate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803863.html/

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

New Lutheran body to form after gay pastor vote
By PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press
The split over gay clergy within the country's largest Lutheran denomination has prompted a conservative faction to begin forming a new Lutheran church body separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/new-lutheran-body-to-form-after-gay-pastor-vote.html/

National LGBT young adult tobacco use survey unveiled
News release from the National Youth Advocacy Coalition:
WASHINGTON - The National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) has released a national survey to assess behavior and attitudes around tobacco use by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and intersex (LGBTQI) young adults ages 18-24. Data collected will be made public and used to make programmatic and policy recommendations on a national and regional level.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/national-lgbt-young-adult-tobacco-use-survey-unveiled.html/

Slaying, decapitation of gay teen in Puerto Rico investigated as hate crime
By MIKE MELIA, Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The slaying of a gay teenager whose decapitated, partially burned body was found along a road in Puerto Rico last week is under investigation as a possible hate crime, a police official said Wednesday. Activists say it would be the first case in this U.S. territory to invoke a law covering crimes based on sexual orientation.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/slaying-decapitation-of-gay-teen-in-puerto-rico-investigated-as-hate-crime.html/

Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages
By Dave Montgomery, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
AUSTIN — Here's a question for Texans: Are you really married? Maybe not.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/texas-gay-marriage-ban-may-have-banned-all-marriages.html/

Eddie Serrano, Richard Murry elected to Pridelines Youth Services board of directors
News release from Pridelines Youth Services:
MIAMI – November 18, 2009 – Pridelines Youth Services announced today that Eddie Serrano and Richard Murry have been elected to two-year terms on the Pridelines Board of Directors. Pridelines’ mission is to educate and empower South Florida’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (GLBTQ) youth and their straight allies by providing programming, counseling, support and referral services in a safe and diverse environment.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/eddie-serrano-richard-murry-elected-to-pridelines-youth-services-board-of-directors.html/

Orlando mayor leads community condemnation of anti-gay hate crime at gay community center
Here's a joint news release on behalf of Equality Florida, The Center, Florida ACLU, One Orlando, The Jewish Federation of Central Florida, Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/orlando-mayor-leads-community-condemnation-of-anti-gay-hate-crime-at-gay-community-center.html/

Broward swears in Ken Keechl, county’s first openly gay mayor
By LAURA FIGUEROA, lfigueroa@MiamiHerald.com
Ken Keechl, 47, was sworn in Tuesday as Broward County's first openly gay mayor. For the next year he will preside over the Broward County Commission.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/broward-swears-in-ken-keechl-countys-first-openly-gay-mayor.html/

Gay ex-Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora wins runoff, will return to dais
BY DAVID SMILEY, dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com
In a runoff election guaranteed to bring two new commissioners to Miami Beach City Hall, former Commissioner Michael Góngora coasted to a second stint on the dais while Jorge Exposito narrowly won a seat.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/gay-ex-miami-beach-commissioner-michael-gngora-wins-runoff-will-return-to-dais.html/

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

Buttars Melting in Gay Rights Opposition?
By Julie Bolcer
Utah state senator Chris Buttars, an avowed opponent of gay rights, surprised many this week with his expression of potential support for statewide protections against employment and housing discrimination. But the Republican says there are limits, specifically, he does not want to see gay rights “creep” beyond the basic protections recently passed in Salt Lake City.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/19/Buttars_Melting_in_Gay_Rights_Opposition_/

Gay Men's Chorus Sings Praises of Blade
By Julie Bolcer
Members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. presented the former Washington Blade with a check Wednesday night for a full-page ad in the newspaper’s new print iteration, the D.C. Agenda, which will be available on Friday.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/19/Gay_Mens_Chorus_Sings_Praises_of_Blade/

Sexually Active Gay Pastors Divide Lutherans
By Advocate.com Editors
The decision to allow sexually active gays and lesbian pastors to serve as clergy members has caused a split in the country’s largest Lutheran denomination, and some conservatives now say they’re forming their own body separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Sexually_Active_Gay_Pastors_Divide_Lutherans/

New Breast Health Rules Leave Out Lesbians
Now that new government guidelines are out on how to best care for your breasts, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender women are left with a lot of questions.
By Michelle Garcia
For years medical professionals have advised women over the age of 40 to get annual breast exams as a way to detect cancerous tumors. However, the new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force, which shun breast self-exams and suggest only women between the ages of 50 and 74 get mammograms every other year, are startling to some, while others welcome the recommendations.
http://www.advocate.com/Health_and_Fitness/Health_and_Treatments/Prevention/New_Breast_Health_Rules_Leave_Out_the_Lesbians/

Baltimore Gay Teen Murdered
By Advocate.com Editors
The murder of a gay teenager in Baltimore has left a family grieving and a community questioning why he was killed. The suspect is a family friend and ex-con who had served only 10 years of an original 30-year sentence for an earlier crime.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Baltimore_Gay_Teen_Murdered/

Blade Back in Business
By Neal Broverman
It's confirmed: A new iteration of the recently shuttered gay newspaper Washington Blade will launch on Friday under the name The D.C. Agenda.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Blade_Back_in_Business/

Judge Orders Feds to Pay Gay Couple
By Michelle Garcia
A gay couple in Los Angeles was awarded compensation Tuesday for being denied spousal benefits by the federal government.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Judge_Orders_Feds_to_Pay_Gay_Couple/

Triumph in the Tar Heel State
The loss of marriage equality in Maine was a major blow on Election Night, but down the coast in North Carolina there was an LGBT victory. Pam Spaulding talks to Chapel Hill's mayor-elect, Mark Kleinschmidt.
By Pam Spaulding
When Election Day 2009 came to a close, many of us in the LGBT community were focused on the devastating blow of rollback of marriage equality in Maine. But there were some noteworthy bright spots in local races around the country. One gay man in North Carolina found himself celebrating a victory — Mark Kleinschmidt, the mayor-elect of Chapel Hill. Despite the town's liberal reputation and Kleinschmidt's long history of public service — he has served on the Chapel Hill town council since December 2001 — Mark won his race by only 106 votes. Blogger Pam Spaulding, who lives a stone's throw away in Durham, N.C., sat down with Kleinschmidt to talk about the political climate in North Carolina and the mixed feelings about the results of the election as well as his personal rethinking on the matter of marriage equality and the ballot box.
http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Marriage_Equality/Triumph_in_the_Tar_Heel_State/

France's Latest Export
He's opened for Britney and Katy Perry, kept Dita Von Teese company in the front row at Paris Fashion Week, and gets name-checked on Twitter by Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and Sarah Silverman. So who the hell is Sliimy, anyway?
By David Michael Conner
Don’t hold it against Sliimy that he was hand-picked by the infamous Perez Hilton to be the first artist signed to Hilton’s Perezcious label, an imprint of Warner Bros. And don’t hold it against him that his name — pronounced like “Slimmy,” not “Slimy” — looks slightly gross and requires phonetic explanation. Or that he’s popular in France. (He is French, after all.)
http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Music/Frances_Latest_Export/

Church Opens Doors for Homeless Gay Teens
A church-turned-shelter for homeless youth in Queens, New York is a far cry from sleeping on the streets after a $200,000 renovation and a partnership with the Ali Forney Center for LGBT youth.
By Michelle Garcia
A converted church in Queens, N.Y., may look like a pleasant youth hostel, but many of its residents made a tough journey to find this new place to call home.
http://www.advocate.com/Society/Youth/Church_Opens_Doors_for_Homeless_Gay_Teens/

Tom Ford Tells All
Known for his provocative reinventions of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, fashion designer Tom Ford has now remade himself, as director of A Single Man. Kevin Sessums’s frank interview with Ford reveals the extent to which he’s shedding his old skin.
By Kevin Sessums
“I don’t think of myself as gay. That doesn’t mean that I’m not gay. I just don’t define myself by my sexuality,” says Tom Ford with no sense of irony in his voice. Ford built a fashion empire at Gucci. When Yves Saint Laurent was acquired by Gucci in 1999, he reinvented that brand. Since then he has launched his own Tom Ford line of menswear and accessories. Always, throughout his career, whole collections and marketing campaigns were designed around his highly honed sense of the needs of others to define themselves as sexual beings.
http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Cover_Stories/The_Visionary_Tom_Ford/

New Breast Health Rules Leave Out Lesbians
Now that new government guidelines are out on how to best care for your breasts, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender women are left with a lot of questions.
By Michelle Garcia
For years medical professionals have advised women over the age of 40 to get annual breast exams as a way to detect cancerous tumors. However, the new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force, which shun breast self-exams and suggest only women between the ages of 50 and 74 get mammograms every other year, are startling to some, while others welcome the recommendations.
http://www.advocate.com/Health_and_Fitness/Health_and_Treatments/Prevention/New_Breast_Health_Rules_Leave_Out_the_Lesbians/

Kellan Lutz Won’t Strip for Ellen, Charity
By Advocate.com Editors
Ellen DeGeneres offered Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz $5,000 for one of his favorite charities if he’d take his shirt off on her show. He turned her down.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Kellan_Lutz_Wont_Strip_for_Ellen_Charity/

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

New Lutheran body to form after gay pastor vote
By The Associated Press
The split over gay clergy within the country’s largest Lutheran denomination has prompted a conservative faction to begin forming a new Lutheran church body separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
http://www.365gay.com/news/new-lutheran-body-to-form-after-gay-pastor-vote/

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

Gay unions threaten 'fabric of society', bishops say
A pastoral letter agreed at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops warns about the dangers of same-sex marriage and partnerships, saying they will affect everyone.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/gay-unions-threaten-fabric-of-society-bishops-say/

Chaz Bono says transition is 'the best decision I've ever made'
Chaz Bono, the son of singer Cher, appeared on US television this morning to discuss his gender reassignment. Speaking to Good Morning America, he said eight months into transition, he feels "great".
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/chaz-bono-says-transition-is-best-decision-ive-ever-made/

Gay German spy accused of betraying state secrets
A German spy is on trial accused of handing over secret documents to his lover. The 42-year-old spy, named only as Anton K, reportedly began the affair with a Macedonian translator when he was posted to Kosovo in 2005.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/19/gay-german-spy-accused-of-betraying-state-secrets/

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

Lesbian and Gay Parents Are Not Better–and That’s Okay
Dana Rudolph \ Bilerico Project
Everyone’s been asking the question. The New York Times: “Are Same-Sex Couples Better Parents?” The Advocate: “Gay Parents Better than Straight?” SF Gate: “Are same-sex couples better parents?” The Dallas Voice: “Do gays and lesbians make better parents?”
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11599/

Simon LeVay and the Biology of Sexual Orientation
Betty Greene Salwak \ Bilerico Project
Last Friday I had the great pleasure of attending a seminar intended to help professionals in the mental health field understand and counsel clients who are lesbian, gay and bisexual. Open to interested parties as well, it was held at the University of Indianapolis. (It was announced that because transgender individuals are markedly different under the circumstances being discussed, time would not permit inclusion of that population.)
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11598/

Queer Maine–A Very Different Anti-Marriage Postscript
Father Tony \ Bilerico Project
When you have fifteen minutes to devote to this, I urge you to have a listen to this articulate anti-assimilationist queer as he constructs an excellent economic reframe of Maine and gives voice to a point of view that was almost entirely stifled during the we-must-have-marriage gay juggernaut in Maine.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11596/

Illinois’ Jacob Meister Aims to be the First Openly Gay Senate Candidate
Phil Reese \ Bilerico Project
Jacob Meister and his campaign manager, Lowell Jaffe, were standing outside of a CVS Pharmacy on DuPont Circle, in Washington DC the morning of the National Equality March. Jaffe stuck his hand out as I passed and they started a campaign pitch, and I smiled and rolled my eyes. Candidates are always stopping folks outside of Wal-Mart or inside of Bob Evans, and I think at a certain point most politically active people have been desensitized to these awkward attempts to schmooze.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11595/

Lambda Legal Sues Because Health Care Isn’t a Luxury
Alex Blaze \ Bilerico Project
A few months ago, saying they needed to cut spending, the state of Arizona rescinded domestic partner benefits for same-sex partners of state employees. They seemed to forget that it would have saved a whole lot more money if they got rid of family benefits for heterosexual relationships, or, to be fair, for everyone, but this isn’t about logic. This is about who’s expendable and who’s not.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11594/

Americans Want a Health Surtax on Wealthy
Daniela Perdomo \ AlterNet
Although the House bill includes a surtax on the wealthy in order to help fund the proposed health care overhaul, the possibility of it being included in the final health care bill seems uncertain. As Majority Leader Reid prepares the Senate’s bill, he ought pay attention to this newly released Associated Press poll which shows that 57% of Americans are in favor of a health surtax on the richest among us — and only 37% are opposed.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11593/

Do Yearly Mammograms Save Women’s Lives?
Posted by Daily Queer News
at November 19, 2009
Naomi Freundlich \ Health Beat \ AlterNet
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this article was written, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has yielded to the uproar generated by new guidelines from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, and essentially urged women to ignore the committee’s recommendations, and continue with their yearly mammograms, and monthly self-examinations. The new recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force that women under 50 should not undergo routine mammography is generating a lot of controversy — it is a direct challenge to the strong message women have been receiving for two decades that they should have yearly screening starting at age 40. The task force also recommends that women age 50-74 have a mammogram every two years (rather than yearly) and finds that there is little benefit in screening women over 74 at all.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11592/

Is House Health Bill a Threat to Our Constitution?
Barry W. Lynn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State \ AlterNet
EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was delivered as a statement at a press conference called by the Religious Coaltion for Reproductive Choice at the National Press Club on November 16, 2009. The topic was the anti-choice amendment, authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., that was attached to the House health-care reform bill.
In the United States, the institutions of government and religion are separate.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11591/

Rachel Maddow Interview with Former Evangelist Frank Schaeffer: Christian Right ‘Trolling for Assassins’
AlterNet
The following is an excerpt of a transcript from a recent episode of the Rachel Maddow Show:
Rachel Maddow: With our president overseas, Republicans and conservatives here at home have been taking the opportunity to crank up their criticism of him. Former Vice President Dick Cheney telling Politico.com that President Obama advertised weakness when he bowed ceremonially to the emperor of Japan. Cheney said, quote, “Our friends and allies don‘t expect it and our enemies see it as a sign of weakness. There is no reason for an American president to bow to anyone.”
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11590/

How Limousine Liberals, Water Oligarchs and Even Sean Hannity Are Hijacking Our Water Supply
Yasha Levine \ AlterNet
A group of water oligarchs in California have engineered a disastrous deregulation and privatization scheme. And they’ve pulled in hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars without causing much public outrage. The amount of power and control they wield over California’s most precious resource, water, should shock and frighten us — and it would, if more people were aware of it. But here is the scary thing: They are plotting to gain an even larger share of California’s increasingly-scarce, over-tapped water supply, which will surely lead to shortages, higher prices and untold destruction to California’s environment.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11589/

Discharged Under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Pelin Sidki \ CNN
Darren Manzella saw two tours of duty in Iraq, first as a combat medic and later as a liaison officer. He earned three promotions in his six years as a U.S. Army sergeant. Despite his professional success, Manzella says he began to question his personal life.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11588/

MD: Many Unanswered Questions in Killing of Youth
Peter Hermann and Brent Jones \ Baltimore Sun
It didn’t happen often, but sometimes a student - usually a boy - would poke fun at Jason Mattison Jr. About his skin-tight jeans and funky sweaters. About his boisterous voice that seemed to run nonstop. About his exuberance in recounting the most mundane of events. About his flamboyant mannerisms. He was 15, a sophomore in high school, and he was gay.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11587/

NE: Nelson: I’m Comfortable Being Lone Democrat to Derail Reform
Sam Stein \ Huffington Post
Ben Nelson, a key conservative Senate Democrats, said on Wednesday that he was pleased with the changes party leadership had made to health care legislation, specifically on matters of deficit reduction. But the Nebraska senator, whose vote has been elusive to pin down so far, said he would be comfortable being the lone Democrat to prevent the bill from overcoming a Republican filibuster.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11586/

US Christian Right Also Mobilizes African Clerics in US “Culture War” Over Ordination of LGBT Clergy
Public Research Association \ Public Eye
Sexual minorities in Africa have become collateral damage to our domestic conflicts and culture wars as U.S. conservative evangelicals and those opposing gay pastors and bishops within mainline Protestant denominations woo Africans in their American fight, a groundbreaking investigation by Political Research Associates (PRA) has discovered.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11585/

=

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

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

GLBT DIGEST - November 18, 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:

Finding on Priests’ Sexuality and Abuse
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A preliminary report commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to investigate sexual abuse by members of the clergy has found no evidence that gay priests are more likely than heterosexual ones to molest children, the authors of the study said. The full report by researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice will not be completed until the end of next year. But the authors said their evidence to date found no data indicating that homosexuality was a predictor of abuse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/us/18brfs-FINDINGONPRI_BRF.html?_r=1&sq=gay&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=4&adxnnlx=1258556459-VNZfreYSuKCPDERLFTd+Zg/

No Measure to Ban Gay Marriage
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The District of Columbia Board of Ethics and Elections said a measure that would ban same-sex marriages cannot go on the city’s ballot. Opponents of same-sex marriage wanted to ask voters whether “only marriage between a man and woman” should be recognized. The City Council is expected to pass a measure that would let same-sex couples marry. The elections board said that putting a measure to ban same-sex marriage on the ballot would conflict with the city’s Human Rights Act.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/us/18brfs-NOMEASURETOB_BRF.html?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse/

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

The Blade's hard times
A Washington paper provided a critical voice.
THE FINANCIAL problems of Window Media, the parent company of the Washington Blade, had been known for a while -- so much so that the 20 staffers of the weekly newspaper put in a bid to buy the publication last summer. No action was taken. And so, on Monday morning, after 40 years of chronicling the gay and lesbian community in the nation's capital and elsewhere, the Blade and several other gay publications ceased operation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111703408.html/

Seeking to put asunder
Despite D.C. setback, Bishop Jackson carries his national message -- and mission -- against gay marriage
By Wil Haygood
This is how Bishop Harry Jackson spent his summer vacation: He hustled back and forth across the District rallying his faithful flock who oppose gay marriage. He leaned into microphones over at the Board of Elections and Ethics, quoting biblical verse, decrying those who would trumpet marriage between man and man, woman and woman.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111703976.html/

=
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

In Palin Tour, No Sign of 2012 Run
By PETER WALLSTEN
One of the biggest questions about Sarah Palin's new book is whether her promotional tour, which starts this week, is a prelude to a 2012 presidential bid.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125840790856351153.html/

=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

Keechl becomes Broward's first openly gay mayor
County commissioners choose colleague unanimously for post
By Scott Wyman
Ken Keechl - openly gay - took over as Broward mayor Tuesday amid a wide-ranging government corruption investigation that has ensnared one county commissioner.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-broward-mayor-20091118,0,3613787.story/

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

Orlando mayor leads community condemnation of anti-gay hate crime at gay community center
Here's a joint news release on behalf of Equality Florida, The Center, Florida ACLU, One Orlando, The Jewish Federation of Central Florida, Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center: Community leaders point to a rising tide of anti-gay hate crimes in Florida
ORLANDO, FL, Tuesday, November 17, 2009 – The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Central Florida, more commonly known as The Center, was vandalized on Sunday along with neighboring gay owned businesses. The Center was spray painted with a swastika and the words “Gay Pawer” while gay owned business Ritzy Rags was marked with “Kill Gays,” “Go To Hell” and other homophobic slurs.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/orlando-mayor-leads-community-condemnation-of-anti-gay-hate-crime-at-gay-community-center.html/

Broward swears in Ken Keechl, county’s first openly gay mayor
By LAURA FIGUEROA, lfigueroa@MiamiHerald.com
Ken Keechl, 47, was sworn in Tuesday as Broward County's first openly gay mayor. For the next year he will preside over the Broward County Commission.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/broward-swears-in-ken-keechl-countys-first-openly-gay-mayor.html/

Gay ex-Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora wins runoff, will return to dais
BY DAVID SMILEY, dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com
In a runoff election guaranteed to bring two new commissioners to Miami Beach City Hall, former Commissioner Michael Góngora coasted to a second stint on the dais while Jorge Exposito narrowly won a seat.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/gay-ex-miami-beach-commissioner-michael-gngora-wins-runoff-will-return-to-dais.html/

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force condemns dismemberment slaying of gay teen in Puerto Rico
News release from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force condemns the brutal murder of Jorge Steven López, a 19-year-old gay man in Puerto Rico, in a possible hate crime. A suspect has reportedly been arrested.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/11/national-gay-and-lesbian-task-force-condemns-dismemberment-slaying-of-gay-teen-in-puerto-rico.html/

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

Vandalism discovered at Orlando community center
The Associated Press
Donors, volunteers and local leaders are lining up in support of an Orlando community center that was the target of vandalism earlier this week.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1339238.html/

SARAH PALIN: Sigh . . . here to stay
BY EUGENE ROBINSON
No force on earth can stop Sarah Palin from becoming our very own ``lite'' version of Eva Peron -- a glamorous and tragic legend, minus the tragedy. Eventually, some clever composer will write a blockbuster musical about her life and times. Stage directions will include: ``SARAH fires gun. MOOSE dies.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/1338890.html/

Ken Keechl makes Broward history
Broward County's first openly gay mayor was sworn in to office Tuesday. His new role was celebrated by gay and lesbian activists.
By LAURA FIGUEROA
Growing up, Ken Keechl was always fascinated by politics, but thought he could never get elected as an openly gay man. Tuesday morning, Keechl, 47, raised his right hand as he was sworn in as Broward County's first openly gay mayor. For the next year, he will preside over the dais of Florida's second-most populous county (1.8 million residents).
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/5min/story/1338816.html/

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

Bishop Jackson: What, Me Homophobic?
By Julie Bolcer
The growing list of marriage equality opponents that deny their position is rooted in homophobia includes Barry Harry Jackson, Jr. the Pentecostal minister fighting against same-sex marriage legislation in Washington, D.C.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Bishop_Jackson_What_Me_Homophobic_/

Blade Successor in Print This Friday?
By Julie Bolcer
In a Washington Post editorial on the demise of the Washington Blade, former editor Kevin Naff indicates that a successor publication could appear in print as early as this Friday.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/18/Blade_Successor_in_Print_This_Friday_/

SLC Mayor Signs Gay-Friendly Ordinances
By Christopher Mangum
Salt Lake City mayor Ralph Becker signed a pair of nondiscrimination ordinances Tuesday afternoon. "This is a great moment ... in the history of Salt Lake City," Becker told reporters, according to the Deseret News. "Part of our success as a community is all of us living together and respecting each other."
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/17/SLC_Mayor_Signs_Gay_Friendly_Ordinances/

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

Report: Homosexuality no factor in abusive priests
By The Associated Press
A preliminary report commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops on the roots of the clergy sex abuse scandal found no evidence that gay priests are more likely than heterosexual clergy to molest children, the lead authors of the study said Tuesday.
http://www.365gay.com/news/report-homosexuality-no-factor-in-abusive-priests/

Lambda Legal files suit to prevent Ariz. from stripping domestic partner benefits
By 365gay Newswire
From Lambda Legal: (Tuscon, Ariz.) Lambda Legal has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tucson to block a move to strip domestic partner benefits from gay and lesbian state employees. Arizona lawmakers included a provision stripping domestic partner health benefits from state employees as part of a last-minute budget deal signed by Governor Jan Brewer in September, while retaining spousal health benefits for heterosexual workers.
http://www.365gay.com/news/lambda-legal-files-suit-to-prevent-ariz-from-stripping-domestic-partner-benefits/

Behind the news: Washington Blade was almost saved
By 365gay Newswire
A publisher was in negotiations to buy and run the Washington Blade before it was shut down on Monday. From a press release: In response to media inquiries and an apparent information blackout by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Nicholas F. Benton, owner of the Falls Church News-Press, a Washington, D.C.-area weekly, confirmed today that his corporation, Benton Communications, Inc., had won a bid from parties that included the SBA in September to obtain the assets of the Washington Blade from its bankrupt parent company for purposes of a seamless perpetuation of the nation’s oldest gay community newspaper.
http://www.365gay.com/news/behind-the-news-washington-blade-was-almost-saved/

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

Gay superheroes star in new comic
A comic book featuring an all-LGBT team has gone on sale. Spandex is set in Brighton and features trans crime fighter Liberty and Diva, a lesbian equivalent of Wonder Woman, as they take on various villains.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/comic-features-trans-and-lesbian-characters/

Gay marriage campaign kicks off in California
The fight to win back gay marriage has begun in California. Yesterday, gay rights group Love Honor Cherish launched its campaign to get one million signatures in favour of repealing the ban.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/gay-marriage-campaign-kicks-off-in-california/

Gay policeman James Parkes expected to return to work soon
James Parkes, the gay trainee policeman who was beaten in a homophobic attack, is expected to return to work in a matter of weeks. He has been recovering from his injuries.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/gay-policeman-james-parkes-expected-to-return-to-work-soon/

Peter Tatchell to speak with former Bishop of Edinburgh tonight
Peter Tatchell will appear in conversation with Richard Holloway, the former Bishop of Edinburgh, tonight. Holloway has supported Tatchell in the past, even defending him when he appeared in court in 1998 for storming the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter sermon.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/peter-tatchell-to-speak-with-former-bishop-of-edinburgh-tonight/

Lesbian mayor candidate in Houston 'targeted by conservatives'
Annise Parker, the frontrunning candidate for Houston's mayor, is the subject of a campaign by a conservative group to discourage residents from voting from her. They fear a "gay takeover" of City Hall.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/lesbian-mayor-candidate-in-houston-targeted-by-conservatives/

Georgia teacher 'threatened to have gay student killed'
A teacher in the US state of Georgia is accused of trying to "put a hit" on a student he thought was gay Randolph Forde, a teacher at Mundy’s Mill High School in Clayton County, has been suspended with pay after being arrested last month.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/georgia-teacher-threatened-to-have-gay-student-killed/

Adam Lambert: 'People are freaked out by male sexuality'
American Idol star Adam Lambert has said that people find his expressions of his sexuality offensive because he is gay. The star also said that promiscuity was not for him.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/adam-lambert-people-are-freaked-out-by-male-sexuality/

Follow PinkNews.co.uk on Twitter, Facebook and MyPinkNews
Sometimes we admit we're a little behind the times. Yes PinkNews.co.uk has had a Facebook application since they were invented but we haven't helped you easily follow us on Facebook or indeed Twitter or even MyPinkNews until now.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/17/follow-pinknews.co.uk-on-twitter-facebook-and-mypinknews/

Gay man killed by sparring partner he paid to fight him
A gay businessman died after being beaten by a man he paid to fight for sexual thrills, a court heard yesterday. Colin Butler, 49, suffered fractures to his head, neck and ribs.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/gay-man-killed-by-sparring-partner-he-paid-to-fight-him/

Ben Elton makes gay joke about Prince Edward
Comedian Ben Elton was accused of poor taste last night after making a remark about Prince Edward's sexuality and calling the Queen "a sad old lady".
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/ben-elton-makes-gay-joke-about-prince-edward/

Thief robs gay men in Brighton
Police have appealed for information to help catch a thief who befriends gay men in order to steal from them. Two men have reported having their possessions stolen by him after they invited him home.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/thief-robs-gay-men-in-brighton/

Scottish presbytery 'broke gay moratorium' by accepting gay man for training
A Church of Scotland court has upheld a complaint that a presbytery broke the moratorium on gay clergy by nominating a gay man for training as a minister. It said no new gay candidates would be taken on.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/scottish-presbytery-broke-gay-moratorium-by-accepting-gay-man-for-training/

Gay priests 'no more likely to abuse children than heterosexuals'
A study commissioned by the US Roman Catholic Church has found no evidence that gay priests are more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual clergy.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/gay-priests-no-more-likely-to-abuse-children-than-heterosexuals/

Exclusive: HIV film 'dangerous and misleading'
A film about HIV and what causes AIDS has been attacked for being misleading and even dangerous. HIV charities and health experts have told PinkNews.co.uk that the ideas the film promotes are "pseudo-science" and could damage the public health.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/hiv-film-dangerous-and-misleading/

Exclusive: Stonewall to fight for civil partnerships to be held in churches
Gay rights charity Stonewall said last night it will seek to add an amendment to the Equality Bill to allow religious buildings such as churches to hold civil partnership ceremonies.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/11/18/exclusive-stonewall-to-fight-for-civil-partnerships-to-be-held-in-churches/

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

Will Gay Bloggers’ Boycott of Democrats Get Traction?
Joe Siegel \ EDGE New England Editor \ EDGE Boston
How effective would an LGBT boycott of an organization, a big, a very big organization, be? We’re about to find out–if, that is, enough people agree. In an effort to motivate the Democrats in Congress to move faster on LGBT civil rights issues, a coalition of progressive bloggers have launched a boycott of the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, and the Obama administration.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11555/

Prevaricating Pastors: Mendacious Ministers Prove It’s Still Legal to be Bigots
Rob Boston \ Talk 2 Action
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the Religious Right. Through my work at Americans United, I’ve opposed this movement for 22 years and have written three books challenging the Religious Right’s perspective.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11556/

Frank, Bladwin, Polis Make “Out 100″ List
Out100
Where are our “fierce advocates?” They’re in the United States House of Representatives. Frank, Baldwin, and Polis (left to right) form a powerful, out triumvirate, wielding influence over the economy, social welfare, labor, and education. Frank’s was one of few steady hands on the rudder of the failing U.S. economy during the 2008 credit crisis. He helped midwife the bailouts and stimulus package many say were crucial to avoiding a Great Depression redux.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11557/

TX: It’s Time to Disavow the Politics of Discrimination and Bigotry
Houston Chronicle
A band of socially conservative activists and ministers has injected intolerance into Houston’s mayoral election. As reported Saturday by the Chronicle’s Bradley Olson, the group plans to discourage voters from supporting City Controller Annise Parker in the Dec. 12 runoff because she is a lesbian, and because they’re worried about a “gay takeover” of City Hall.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11558/

Suspects Arrested in Horrific Puerto Rico Hate Crime; NYC Vigil Planned
By Jennifer Vanasco
A suspect has been arrested in the Puerto Rico murder and decapitation of gay teenager Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, according to an iReport by Christopher Pagan.: The main suspect of the cruel murder of a young homosexual found in the area of Guavate Cayey, was arrested this morning and shall be taken to a judge today to face charges, confirmed the press of the Puerto Rico Police, Damaris Periera.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11559/

Indian Prince Creating Change
Southern Star
When Crown Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of the Indian state of Rajpipla arrived in Australia it marked his first visit to Australia. However, rather than coming to relax or take in the country’s famous landmarks, his trip is purely professional.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11565/

HIV Film ‘Dangerous and Misleading’
Jessica Geen \ Pink News
A film about HIV and what causes AIDS has been attacked for being misleading and even dangerous.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11566/

Why Approval Matters
John Corvino \ Independent Gay Forum
It’s November, which means bookstores have next year’s calendars on display. When I was a teenager, this annual occurrence unnerved me. The “male interest” calendars”—think “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model of the Month”—held no appeal for me. Instead, I would nervously reach for a Chippendales calendar, hiding it behind something innocuously themed (race cars, puppies, whatever) so that I could stare admiringly at half-naked men. As soon as I noticed anyone approaching, I would throw both calendars back on the shelf and dart out of the store.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11582/

MO: WORLD AIDS DAY
For more information on World AIDS Day, visit www.worldaidscampaign.org/St.Louis
Acclaimed artist-activist honors World AIDS Day with an American tour of intimacies, a groundbreaking theatre piece that he wrote and performed twenty years ago. The Gateway Men’s Chorus, under direction of Dr. Jeffrey Carter, will open the show. Show begins at 8:00pm, tickets are available at the door, all seating is general admission, audience members choose to pay $10-$25 to see the show; no one will be turned away for lack of funds. - Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis - 1919 S. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63104. For more information, please visit www.uppityco.com or call 314.995.4600.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11581/

MO: Transgender Day of Remembrance
TRANSGENDER DAY OF Remembrance
For more information on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, visit www.transgenderdor.org St. Louis
Wednesday, November 18th
8:00pm - Transgender Day of Remembrance Service - St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3664 Arsenal St.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11580/

CA: The San Diego LGBT Center Events
50 and Better LGBT Senior Survey
Our seniors are our history and our heroes. They deserve our respect, our support and, when necessary, our help. This requires that we develop a real understanding of our seniors’ lives and of their needs. In order to help us do that, The Center is asking community members who are 50 and better to take part in the 50 and Better LGBT Senior Survey. If you’re 50 or better, take the survey now.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11578/

Press Conference Denounces Expansion of Hate Crimes, Coalition Presents Memo to Representative of Attorney General
To: National Desk Contact: Misty Allmond, 936-560-3900, visionamerica1@yahoo.com
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 /Christian Newswire/ — From 1 to 3 pm today, a coalition of concerned Christians held a press conference outside of the Justice Department in Washington. D.C., decrying the recent expansion of federal hate-crimes legislation to include homosexuals, and contending that this will result in the persecution of Bible-believing Christians.
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/11577/

=

Ft. Lauderdale: White House to Host AIDS Town Hall Meeting November 20
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy will host a town hall meeting
at Dillard High School, 2501 N.W. 11 Street, Fort Lauderdale on Friday,
November 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. This is one of 14 Town Hall Forums being held
across the country, including Puerto Rico. The Broward County Community
Partnerships Division is coordinating the event. The purpose of this
meeting is to receive input from the South Florida community as part of the
development of the nation's first National HIV/AIDS Strategy to end
HIV/AIDS. These community discussion forums will provide opportunities for
individual residents to dialogue and provide White House staff and other
policy makers with recommendations for achieving President Barack Obama's
three goals for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy:
· Reducing HIV incidence
· Increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes
· Reducing HIV-related health disparities
Participants will have 1 minute and 30 seconds to share their
recommendations. To help prepare for the community forum, participants are
encouraged to download worksheets on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy at
On-line registration is encouraged at
https://www.cmpinc.net/onap/registration.aspx

=

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