**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.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/nyregion/20hate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
June 20, 2007
To Commit a Hate Crime, Must the Criminal Truly Hate the Victim?
By MICHAEL BRICK
In her courtroom on the 21st floor of State Supreme Court in Brooklynyesterday, Justice Jill Konviser-Levine sat and pondered the question ofhate.
"Bottom line," Justice Konviser-Levine ruminated aloud, "is animus anelement of the crime?"
The crime in question was the killing of Michael J. Sandy, 29, a gay man whowas lured to a parking area in Sheepshead Bay last October, beaten andchased into traffic. He later died in the hospital.
Prosecutors have said a group of young men contacted Mr. Sandy through anonline gay chat room, selecting him as a robbery victim in the belief that agay man would be unwilling or unable to put up a fight and unlikely toreport the crime.
The defendants - John Fox, 20; Ilya Shurov, 21; and Anthony Fortunato, 21 -have been charged not just with murder, but with murder under the state HateCrimes Act of 2000, which provides longer prison sentences for crimesmotivated "in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perceptionregarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion,religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/nyregion/20legis.html?pagewanted=print
June 20, 2007
Drunken Drivers May Face Two New Felony Charges
By DANNY HAKIM
ALBANY, June 19 - Gov. Eliot Spitzer and top lawmakers agreed Tuesday totoughen penalties for driving while intoxicated and to create a homicidecharge aimed specifically at drunken drivers.
The legislation was spurred by the grisly death two years ago of a7-year-old girl who was returning from her aunt's wedding in a limousinewhen it was hit by a pickup truck whose driver was drunk and traveling thewrong way on a Long Island parkway.
The Democratic-led Assembly also passed a bill Tuesday night, by an 85-to-61vote, to legalize same-sex marriage, making New York just the second statein which a legislative chamber has done so. Both houses of the CaliforniaLegislature passed a same-sex marriage bill last year, but it was vetoed byGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader and New York's top Republican,reiterated his opposition to the bill and said it would not come up for avote in the Senate.
"We're not going to take a vote; we have too many other issues," Mr. Brunosaid at a news conference when asked about gay marriage. "We're not going tospend hours debating an issue that, you know, is not going to be ofconsequence."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/us/politics/20mayor.html?pagewanted=print
June 20, 2007
Bloomberg Severs G.O.P. Ties, Fueling Talk of '08 Bid
By DIANE CARDWELL and JENNIFER STEINHAUER
LOS ANGELES, June 19 - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Tuesday that hewas dropping his Republican affiliation, a step that could clear the way forhim to make an independent bid for the presidency.
The announcement was released during a campaign-style swing throughCalifornia, during which Mr. Bloomberg, 65, a billionaire businessman, usedincreasingly sharp language to criticize both parties in Washington as tootimid to take on big problems and too locked into petty squabbling to worktogether.
"I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led andwill continue to lead my city," Mr. Bloomberg's statement read. "Anysuccessful elected executive knows that real results are more important thanpartisan battles, and that good ideas should take precedence over rigidadherence to any particular political ideology."
Even as Mr. Bloomberg continues to say that he has no plans to run forpresident, his announcement has set off a storm of interest in politicalcircles across the country, where it is being viewed as a signal of hisserious contemplation of a campaign. His ability to self-finance a campaignpresents him with obvious advantages, including the option of delaying evenuntil next year a decision on whether to run.
Mr. Bloomberg's aides are working intensely behind the scenes promoting theidea of the mayor's candidacy and exploring the mechanics of starting anindependent campaign.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Bloomberg-Politics.html?pagewanted=print
June 20, 2007
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Leaves GOP
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:06 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- Speculation that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was interested ina third-party presidential run was merely simmering last summer when he wasasked about the idea of leaving the GOP and becoming an independent.
The billionaire mayor pointed out that the Republican Party had given him anopportunity to get elected in 2001, when he switched his lifelong Democraticregistration to avoid a crowded primary.
''There's no reason for me to change my party at the moment,'' Bloombergsaid then.
Apparently the moment has come.
After some six years as a Republican, the 65-year-old former CEO announcedTuesday that he has left the Republican Party and become unaffiliated inwhat many believe could be a step toward entering the 2008 race forpresident.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061902253.html
BOGOTA, Colombia -- A landmark gay rights bill passed by Colombia'sCongress last week was thrown out when a group of senators used a proceduralvote to change their minds on the measure.
Despite minimal differences in the lower house and Senate texts, a handfulof senators used Tuesday's vote to back away from the measure, opposed byColombia's powerful Roman Catholic church.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061901956_pf.html
Relocated Adult Club Is Facing Shutdown in NE
City Officials Say Owner Misrepresented Plans
By Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 20, 2007; B01
District regulatory officials have ordered the shutdown of 2120, a sexuallyoriented club for gay men in Northeast Washington that has been a target ofprotests by neighborhood residents.
The club's certificate of occupancy will be revoked next week, according toa letter from Zoning Administrator Bill Crews. The owner, Robert Siegel,will not be able to operate in the District without it after June 26.
In the letter, Crews said the certificate of occupancy was being revokedbecause Siegel had applied to open "office space" at the location, which wasformerly used by a limousine company. The application stated that Siegelwould be the property's new owner but implied that he would use it for thesame purpose. Crews said the club cannot be categorized as office space.
"You erroneously submitted an application solely for a change of ownershipwithout indicating a change of use from 'office space' to asexually-oriented business," Crews wrote. The D.C. Department of Consumerand Regulatory Affairs "relied on your agent's representation that thereason for the application was a change of ownership without a change ofuse. Rather than office space, you are using the premises as asexually-oriented business."
Siegel, who did not return several telephone calls, was served the orderlast week, an official said. He was given 10 business days to close, and hehas 60 days to appeal the administrator's decision to the Board of ZoningAdjustment.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061901948_pf.html
Sharing a Police Resource
Wednesday, June 20, 2007; A18
After reading the June 15 Metro article "D.C. Chief Breaking Up Latino, GayPolice Units," I have to speak out about Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier'sdecision to evenly disperse the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenderliaison unit throughout the city.
I support her decision 100 percent.
It seems to be a common misunderstanding that only gay people live in DupontCircle and that it is the only place we live within the city. I thank ChiefLanier for having a true vision of the enormous diversity of the GLBTcommunity and for understanding reality enough to make bold changes.
Chief Lanier understands that equal protection for GLBT individuals involvesbringing an officer trained to work with the community into each district.
A few people with overinflated egos and checkbooks are trying to preventpositive changes for the entire community citywide. They do not see theforest for the trees.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-flbriefsb0620nbjun20,0,7748589,print.story
Evolution of gay rights focus of panel discussion
The Stonewall Library & Archives will host a panel discussion, "Gay Rights:
30 Years and Counting," at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Broward County Main
Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave.
Participants will discuss how the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendermovement has evolved from the days of Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign totoday.
Among the participants will be by Dr. Fred Fejes, professor at FloridaAtlantic University; Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida;and Heddy Pena, executive director of Save Dade.
The discussion is in conjunction with the new exhibition, "Days WithoutSunshine: Anita Bryant's Anti-Gay Crusade," currently on view at thelibrary. It is free and open to the public.
For more information, call 954-763-8565.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pn3bdig202pnjun20,0,320015,print.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Palm Beach County: Judge declines to suppress confession in 2006 death
June 20, 2007
Vincent Puglisi freely and voluntarily confessed his involvement in the 2006killing of Curious George children's book creator Alan Shalleck, CircuitJudge Edward Garrison ruled Tuesday.
Puglisi sought to suppress his statement to police on the grounds that theyhad no probable cause to hold him for questioning and that coercivetechniques were used. He also alleged that police failed to properly advisehim of his rights.
Puglisi, 55, and his lover, 31-year-old Rex Ditto, are facing a possibledeath sentence if convicted as charged with Shalleck's murder. The76-year-old purportedly met Puglisi through an ad in a gay magazine. Puglisiand Ditto are accused of attacking Shalleck during sex, stabbing himhundreds of times inside his Boynton Beach mobile home.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46529.asp
June 20, 2007
Mothers, transsexuals now eligible in Miss Spain pageant
Organizers of the national Miss Spain beauty pageant have decided to permitmothers and transsexuals for eligibility, Agence France-Presse reports.
The rule change was prompted by controversy surrounding the pageant'sdethroning of 22-year-old Anna Bustillo, who won the regional title of MissCantabria, after organizers discovered that she had a young son. Bustilloclaimed she was discriminated against, citing the eligibility of fathers inthe Mister Spain pageant.
Though organizers initially defended Bustillo's dethroning, arguing thatmotherhood could hinder a winner from travel duties, they overturned therule as well as another that barred transsexuals from the competition.Following a new law passed in March that grants transsexuals the right tochange their official name and gender without the requirement of surgicaloperation, transsexuals will now be eligible in both the Miss and Misterpageants.
"Of course, their morphology must match their civil status," a pageantorganizer told the AFP. (The Advocate)
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46532.asp
June 20, 2007
Gay teacher jailed for relationship with student
A gay British teacher who had a relationship with one of his students wasgiven what some children's charities are calling a lenient prison termyesterday. David LeBrocq was sentenced to a year in prison after a six-monthsexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.
The pair was caught having sex in LeBrocq's apartment, but the teenager wasgiven permission to engage in the relationship by his mother, according toThe Times of London.
"It does not matter if it was consensual: The point is that when you are ateacher you are in a position of authority over a pupil and you do not havesexual relationships with them," said Michele Elliott, the director of thechildren's charity Kidscape. "Given that he could be out in six months, itseems to me that he has got off very lightly."
The student, Karl Donaldson, now 19, revealed his identity to the press andin court.
"I have not been in touch with him since we broke up and just want to forgetabout what happened and get on with the next chapter in my life," he toldThe Times. (The Advocate)
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46523.asp
IOWA - January 14 (32 delegates)
Romney has emerged as the one to beat, and his strategy calls for winning
the caucuses to ride a momentum wave to New Hampshire. Unknown here before2007, he's spent $1 million in TV ads and direct mail to introduce himself,visited 11 times, and hired veteran operatives. McCain is vigorouslycampaigning here after skipping Iowa in 2000 and has built an organizationthat rivals Romney's. The 70-year-old senator is trying to overcome hisunpopular support for immigration legislation, the perception that he isyesterday's candidate, and doubts that he'll be a loyal Republican. Giulianihas sent mixed signals about how hard he plans to compete here. His supportfor abortion rights and gay rights alienates some conservatives. BothGiuliani and McCain bowed out of a high-profile straw poll in August.
Thompson could find success in Iowa. Lesser-knowns pinning their hopes onthe state haven't broken through. Brownback may have the best chance and iscourting the religious right.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46508.asp
June 20, 2007
Tracking Hillary's stance on DOMA, distance from Bill on LGBT issues
Sen. Hillary Clinton went a long way this month toward neutralizing her onelingering Achilles' heel with LGBT voters when she shifted her stance on theDefense of Marriage Act, the 1996 bill signed into law by her husband thatgrants state governments the right not to recognize same-sex marriages orcivil unions performed in other states.
Clinton's new stance on DOMA may also be an attempt to establish a separateidentity from that of husband Bill Clinton, whose presidency left somewhatof a best-of-times, worst-of-times aftertaste in the mouths of LGBTAmericans. While the gay population's historic role in electing Bill Clintonlaunched us on to the national political stage, his statutory legacies to uswere the military's antigay "don't ask, don't tell" policy and DOMA.
Senator Clinton's change on DOMA came to light when her advisers releasedthe text of her candidate questionnaire for the Human Rights Campaign.
DOMA contains two provisions: one that gives states autonomy on marriage andone that prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages. With theprecision of a neurosurgeon, Clinton cut herself free of the second plank ofthe law while continuing to embrace the first plank, essentially saying thatshe would let states decide their own destiny on marriage but leave the dooropen for federal recognition of same-sex unions.
"Senator Clinton believes that each state should make its own decisionsregarding marriage or civil unions, but once a state legalizes suchrelationships, these relationships should receive full federal recognitionand benefits," Ethan Geto, senior national adviser to Senator Clinton onLGBT Issues, explained in an e-mail to The Advocate. "As several states havelegalized gay marriage or civil unions, Senator Clinton has come to believethat the restrictions imposed by DOMA on federal government recognition ofsame-sex relationships are unfair."
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907jobs.htm
Study: 28 Percent Of LGBT Workers Harassed
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET
(New York City) A study of diversity in the workplace has found that 28percent of LGBT employees have suffered harassment in the workplace withnearly half describing it as severe.
The survey was taken by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, an onlineemployment service, and and Kelly Services. It focused on workers in sevengroups - African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Females, LGBT workers andpeople in the workforce over the age of 50.
CareerBuilder said it ordered the survey to gauge the frequency and severityof discrimination or unfair treatment in the workplace, whether employeediversity is valued and how diversity impacts hiring decisions, compensationand career advancement.
A total of 23 percent of diverse workers said they have been discriminatedagainst or treated unfairly in the workplace.
The highest incidence was 44 percent for people with disabilities whileAsian workers and mature workers reported the lowest incidence at 21 percenteach.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907buffalo.htm
Orchestra Settles Gay Discrimination Case
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET
(Buffalo, New York) A civil rights complaint filed by an oboist against theBuffalo Philharmonic Orchestra over his firing has been settled.
J. Bud Roach said he was fired after complaining about homophobia by afellow player. The The New York state Division of Human Rights began anactive investigation in May.
Roach, who is gay and was at the time the orchestra's former second oboist,alleged that in February 2003 first oboist Pierre Roy remarked during anaudition for new musicians for the orchestra that, "We wouldn't want anymore fags in the orchestra."
Roach's complaint said that when he complained to Music Director JoAnnFalletta he was urged drop the matter because "these things can get messy."
Roach said in his filing that when nothing was done he filed a complaintwith the Division and that following that, in the following year he wasdismissed.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907anglican.htm
Canadian Anglicans Prepare To Vote On Same-Sex Blessings
by The Canadian Press
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(Winnipeg, Manitoba) Planning a wedding is usually complicated, takingmonths to sort out a seemingly endless parade of details.
For Frank Kajfes, 60, the months leading up to the big day with BryanWannop, his partner of 30 years, were difficult for another reason.
As Anglicans, it was important to Kajfes and Wannop, 70, to have a religiouscomponent to their wedding. Since the church doesn't allow its priests tobless same-sex unions, having Kajfes and Wannop at the altar on theirwedding day was a delicate matter.
Church leaders came up with a clever compromise.
Before they were legally married by a Federal Court judge at the end of aregular Sunday mass, they were prayed for by the entire congregation of St.John the Evangelist in Ottawa _ instead of just the priest.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907lab.htm
Boston College Students Raising Tuition Participating In HIV, Other Drug &
Research Studies
by The Associated Press
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) College students are known for finding creative waysto earn money, but few can compete with Boston University senior AllisonYochim - who once earned cash watching dueling images of sea turtles andhardcore pornography.
Yochim, a self-described "lab rat," says she has made more than $3,000 byparticipating in more than 30 medical studies at Boston's world-classresearch hospitals.
Researchers here can tap into a pool of about a quarter-million collegestudents to find willing participants for scientific studies.
For some students, including Yochim, taking part can almost be a full-timesummer job.
During one recent study on female sexuality, Yochim answered a survey ofdeeply personal questions. Then researchers measured her body's responsewhile she watched a computer screen flashing a sequence of NationalGeographic-like nature images spliced with graphic sexual pictures.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907bloomberg.htm
New Signs Bloomberg Planning Independent Run
by The Associated Press
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(New York City) New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Partyon Tuesday and switched to unaffiliated, a move certain to be seen as aprelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race.
The billionaire former CEO, who was a lifelong Democrat before he switchedto the Republican Party in 2001 for his first mayoral run, said the changein his voter registration does not mean he is running for president.
"Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings myaffiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead ourcity," Bloomberg said.
With an estimated worth of more than $5 billion, he easily could finance anindependent presidential bid.
The 65-year-old mayor has increasingly been the subject of speculation thathe will run as an independent in 2008, despite his repeated promises toleave politics after the end of his term in 2009. He has fueled the buzzwith increasing out-of-state travel, a greater focus on national issues andrepeated criticism of the partisan politics that dominate Washington.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907frist.htm
Gay Foe Frist To Teach At Princeton
by The Associated Press
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Trenton, New Jersey) Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) isreturning to his alma mater, Princeton University, to teach courses ongovernment health policy, the university said Tuesday.
He was a key sponsor of two failed attempts to amend the Constitution to bansame-sex marriage.
Frist, a practicing physician, has been appointed as a visiting professorfor the 2007-08 academic year, and will serve as a lecturer at Princeton'sWoodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
The 55-year-old Frist will teach a graduate course at the Wilson School onhealth policy during the fall semester, and an undergraduate course on asimilar subject in the spring.
"His years of experience in public service as a doctor and as a leader inthe U.S. Senate make him an ideal practitioner-professor," said Anne-MarieSlaughter, dean of the Wilson School.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061907mich.htm
Cities, Schools Look For Way Around Mich. Anti-Gay Amendment
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: June 19, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Kalamazoo, Michigan) The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan State University andthe University of Michigan are looking at a way of providing health andinsurance benefits to the same-sex partners of workers without making itappear to be gay couple benefits.
All three had domestic partner benefits plans in place when a three-judgeCourt of Appeal panel ruled the state's constitutional amendment barringsame-sex marriage made it illegal to offer same-sex domestic partnerbenefits for public employees.
The constitutional amendment defines marriage as the union between a man anda woman and is the only agreement that can be recognized as a marriage "orsimilar union for any purpose."
The ruling is under appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court but the justicessaid that until it renders a decision the appellate ruling must go intoeffect.
As a result Kalamazoo became the first public employer in the state to striphealth benefits from the domestic partners of its gay and lesbian employees.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/062007pot.htm
Conn. Medical Pot Bill Vetoed
by The Associated Press
Posted: June 20, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Hartford, Connecticut) Connecticut's governor, a cancer survivor, vetoed abill that would have allowed people with certain serious illnesses to usemarijuana, saying it was fraught with problems and sent a mixed message tochildren.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Tuesday that she struggled with the decision.
"I am not unfamiliar with the incredible pain and heartbreak associated withbattling cancer," the Republican said. Rell was diagnosed with breast cancerin 2004, a few months after taking office, and she underwent a mastectomy.
The bill she vetoed would have allowed people older than 18 with medicalconditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS to grow and use fourmarijuana plants after getting written permission from a doctor andregistering with the state.
The issue pits broader patients' rights against concerns of legalized accessto an illicit drug. Twelve states let some patients use marijuana despitefederal laws against it.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Alan Chambers on CNN Situation Room Transcript (excerpt)
CNN-Situation Room
www.cnn.com
June 18, 2007
BLITZER: His ministry is called Exodus International. And he's been on amission to help gays and lesbians, and I'm quoting him now, "leavehomosexuality". But is this evangelical leader of the ex-gay movement nowsending a slightly different message? Let's go to CNN's Mary Snow. She'swatching this story for us.
What is this man now saying?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT, Wolf, Allen Chambers is gaining notice foredging closer to the middle in a debate that's often pitted gay rightsgroups against ex-gay ministries.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice over): It bills itself as the largest evangelical ministry topromote what it calls freedom from homosexuality. Exodus InternationalPresident Allen Chambers says he has overcome his attraction to men, and isnow married with two children. But he is now speaking out against the term"ex-gay". ALLEN CHAMBERS, PRESIDENT, EXODUS INT'L.: For someone to simplythink that going from straight to gay is like flipping a light switch,that's something we want to correct at every turn.
SNOW: The shift in language may sound subtle, but it's being welcomed bysome long-time critics of the ex-gay movement, which offers therapy forindividuals who want to, quote, "recover from homosexuality".
DR. JACK DRESCHER, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, AMERICAN PSYCH. ASSN.: To say topeople before they come in the door, well, you might not change entirely isnot usually the way they market these treatments.
SNOW: The American Psychiatric Association does not view homosexuality as adisorder. And, therefore, doesn't see the need for treatment. Ministrieslike Exodus believe homosexuality is treatable. But unlike many staunchChristian conservatives, the group's president is leaving open thepossibility that homosexuality may not be a choice, but be genetic.
CHAMBERS: Certainly we are body, soul and spirit, and a part of being body,I believe is wrapped up in genetics, and biology and things that are inborn.
SNOW: And that is where some Christian groups part ways.
MATT BARBER, CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: There's no credible evidence tosuggest that people are born homosexual. In fact, there's a great deal ofevidence that would suggest the exact opposite.
SNOW: That is at the heart of a heated debate that's pit God against sciencewhen it comes to controversial therapy to so-called convert gays.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2734
Home
Hard times for the NAACP
June 18, 2007 - 8:35am.
Oldest civil rights group faces a crisis
By STAR PARKER
The recent announcement by the NAACP of a major retrenchment due to fundingshortfalls received brief coverage and got scant attention.
But I think it is an important story that should get attention, because itis a story as much about the real challenges facing our country today as itis about the NAACP.
The NAACP announced that it will cut its national staff by 40 percent andthat seven regional offices will be cut -- at least temporarily. Severalweeks before this the organization announced a delay of plans to move fromBaltimore to fancy new headquarters in Washington.
It should be of interest to everyone why the nation's oldest and mostprestigious civil-rights organization is faltering and on shaky ground.
The last headlines generated by the organization came with the departureearlier in the year of its president of only 18 months, Bruce Gordon.Gordon's hire was an attention-getter because he was not acivil-rights-movement veteran, but one of the nation's most prominent blackcorporate executives.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/14/MNGK4QESU91.DTL
'Don't ask, don't tell' battle brews
Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Thursday, June 14, 2007
(06-14) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Democrats plan to lead an assault this yearon the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" ban on gay and lesbian conduct,which is emerging as a clear partisan fault line in next year's presidentialelection.
Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher of Walnut Creek will lead the effort inCongress, but described an uphill struggle to end the 14-year-old policy,despite Democratic control of the House and Senate.
Even with the Iraq war straining military capacity, Tauscher said Republicanopposition was made evident at last month's presidential debates in NewHampshire, where all 10 Republican candidates indicated they would opposelifting the ban, and all eight Democrats said they would repeal it.
Tauscher is seeking hearings in the House Armed Services Committee, whereshe chairs a subcommittee, and is looking for a Senate sponsor for theMilitary Readiness Enhancement Act. The bill was introduced in the lastsession of Congress with 122 co-sponsors, but just five Republicans.Tauscher said the bill does not yet have majority support in the House, butshe is trying to persuade her colleagues the ban should be lifted because offairness and national security needs.
"I don't think this is going to be in the end a tough fight, and we don'twant it to be," Tauscher said. "We want this to be a very broad coalition,if we can stay on the fact that this is about military readiness andequality, and that the American people are ahead of us on this."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/06/17/news/local/25-gaypride_g.txt
Peaceful and proud: Gay parade goes on
By BECKY SHAY
Of The Gazette Staff
For all practical purposes, it was a regular parade through Billings.
A color guard led the group, the grand marshals sat in a convertible, peoplehanded out candy, and the Al Bedoo Shrine brass band played "Montana." Therewas laughter, waves and cheering from the kids in strollers, families andcouples who lined the sidewalk.
The Pride Celebration 2007 parade stretched about eight blocks throughdowntown Billings on Saturday morning. The three-day celebration is hostedby the Montana Pride Network with the theme "From silence to celebration!"
Parade organizer Mary Horvath estimated that 500 people joined the parade.The parade had dozens of entries, including groups and businesses, and abunch of people joined in along the way.
Roars from crowd could be heard along the final blocks of the parade routeon Second Avenue North as spectators responded to the Montana Pride Networkchanting "Two. Four. Six. Eight. Let's Celebrate!"
With sparkling green fake eyelashes, and wearing a monochrome purple outfitof a glittering blouse over a fluffy tutu and fishnet stockings, C.C.Deveroux was likely the most flamboyant parade entry.
It was Deveroux's first Pride parade and, as the tiara suggested, part ofDeveroux's reign as Miss Gay Missoula 17, a title crowned in March.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/91580?source=rss&dest=STY-91580
June 15, 2007
Gays protest changes in Scottsdale proclamation
Ari Cohn, Tribune
Mayor Mary Manross watered down a proclamation meant to honor Scottsdale'sgay residents until it became an "insult" and a "slap in the face," membersof the homosexual community charged Thursday.
The city's Human Relations Commission, working with the Arizona Human RightsFund gay rights group, drafted a proclamation to designate June as GayAwareness Month in Scottsdale.
But what they received from Manross on Monday was a proclamation thatcelebrated the work of the commission, but made no reference to gay peopleor issues. Instead, the commission had to settle for a generalized "HumanRelations Diversity Observance Month."
"What the mayor did essentially is to make the lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgendered community invisible, which is an insult to those citizens ofScottsdale," said Sam Holdren, Arizona Human Rights Fund field organizer."It's an embarrassment to the city."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Caribbean/Stories/2007/06/18/NEWS0000004516.html
Proposed reform would give Cuban gay couples equal rights
by Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Cuba, June 18, 2007 - Cuba could become the first Caribbean islandnation to recognise the civil and inheritance rights of gay and lesbiancouples, if a proposed reform of the Family Code is approved.
"I can't guarantee that it will reach parliament this year," said sexologistMariela Castro, director of the governmental National Centre for SexEducation (CENESEX). "That is our hope, but it does not depend on us, and ofcourse, it is facing a great deal of resistance," she told IPS.
Opponents of the measure set forth arguments like "Cuban society is notprepared" or "this is not the right time." Castro, meanwhile, recognisesthat "laws by themselves are not sufficient to bring about real change,"although they are indispensable for the design of public policies.
Drawn up by the non-governmental Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) withsupport from CENESEX, the draft reform of the Family Code has been presentedto the Political Bureau, the highest body of the ruling Communist Party. "Weare waiting for approval in order to introduce it to parliament as a draftlaw," said Castro.
The proposal would give homosexual couples the same civil and inheritancerights as heterosexual couples. However, it does not mention gay marriage,because a change of that magnitude would require a lengthy process ofreforming the constitution, which was last amended in 1992.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/112589.htm
Colombia set to recognize gay couples
Sunday, June 17, 2007
BOGOTA, Colombia, AP
Colombia is set to become the first Latin American country to giveestablished gay couples full rights to health insurance, inheritance andsocial security under a bill passed by its Congress.The measure approved Thursday is expected to take effect soon. It is backedby the country's conservative President Alvaro Uribe.
The measure would allow gay couples in long-term relationships to have thesame health insurance and social security benefits as heterosexual couples.It also guarantees that assets accumulated during the relationship will bedivided between the two, and in the case of death, inherited by thesurvivor.
Previously, possessions were passed on to blood relations.
Some states and cities in Latin America have passed similar laws, but noother country in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic region has done so at anational level, said Marcela Sanchez, director of the gay rights groupColombia Diversa. She said as many as 300,000 gay couples in Colombia standto benefit.
"I'm elated," said Catalina Gomez, an English teacher, who said she plans touse the new legal status to take out health insurance for her partnerMonica, a self-employed designer and disc jockey. "It validates our unionbefore the law so we no longer have to going around lying about ourrelationship." Congress' lower house passed the bill 62-43 following aheated debate in which Alfredo Cuello Baute, the president of the chamber,accused gay lawmakers of a conflict of interest.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4683.html
Majority of Tory MPs reject gay rights
19th June 2007 14:30
Tony Grew
A survey of attitudes of MPs has found that many Conservative members have amarkedly different social outlook from leader David Cameron.
The poll, carried out by Populus, spoke to 128 MPs overall, 39 of whom wereTories.
54% of the Conservatives did not think that gay people should have equalrights with heterosexual people.
83% of the 70 Labour MPs and 92% of the 13 Lib Dems polled supported gayrights.
Tory leader David Cameron has spoken of his support for civil partnershipsand the party frontbench supported recent gay rights legislation.
However, in March Tory MPs in the House of Commons forced a vote on theSexual Orientation Regulations. The regulations passed by 310 votes to 100.
29 Tory MPs voted in favour of the regulations, 85 against.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070619/28048_Change_for_Homosexuals_Still_Debated,_Increasingly_Acknowledged.htm
Americans Show More Openness to Gay Therapy
Tue, Jun. 19, 2007 Posted: 08:46:14 AM EST
Change from a homosexual to a heterosexual lifestyle doesn't happenovernight. And when change does occur, some opt not to use the term"ex-gay."
"For too long, many have gotten the impression that transformation is anovernight process," said Alan Chambers, head of Exodus International, thenation's largest Christian organization that promotes the message of freedomfrom homosexuality. "In reality, it is an extremely difficult journey."
For the most part, former homosexuals have conquered their same-sex desiresbut admit they are not completely rid of the homosexual attraction even whenhappily married and with kids, like Chambers.
"By no means would we ever say change can be sudden or complete," saidChambers, a former homosexual, in an interview with The Los Angeles Times.
Although Exodus is often referred to as the nation's largest ex-gayministry, Chambers denounces the term "ex-gay," according to the LA Times.He has said that to never be attracted to men again or never be temptedagain would mean "I'm not human."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://wthrockmorton.com/2007/06/18/la-times-article-features-ex-gay-debate-and-sexual-identity-therapy/
Ex-gay or just exploited?
Dueling conferences this month in Irvine explore whether homosexuals can gostraight.
By MARLA JO FISHER
The Orange County Register
IRVINE- The commercial airing on Christian talk radio promises "sudden,radical, complete change. Through Christ, freedom is possible for those whostruggle with same-gender attraction."
The radio spot is advertising the Exodus International conference this monthin Irvine, where evangelical Christian ministers pledge to help reform gaysand lesbians into living the straight life.
The controversial topic has attracted picketing by gay rights groups duringExodus' annual conferences in the past. This year, activists are doingsomething different: They are holding a competing conference the sameweekend, a mile away at UC Irvine.
"This time, we decided instead of having a protest, why not just have analternative conference?" said Michael Bussee, a co-founder of the Exodusmovement who later recanted and now lives as a gay man.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2007/06/born-gay-ex-gay-leader-offers-cnn-an-elliptical-response/
Born Gay? Ex-Gay Leader Offers CNN An Elliptical Response
Posted on June 18th, 2007 by Mike Airhart
Inspired by an LA Times article about an upcoming professional conventionthat will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ex-gay "therapies," CNN'sSituation Room aired an interview this afternoon with Alan Chambers,president of Exodus International, and Jack Drescher, distinguished fellowof the American Psychiatric Association.
Correspondent Mary Snow inaccurately states that "Exodus International_President Alan Chambers says he has overcome his attraction to men," whileChambers repeats something that he has said before, albeit not often enoughnor among the audiences that most need to hear it: that so-called "change"is not instantaneous.
From the CNN transcript:
For one for someone to simply think that going from straight to gay islike flipping a light switch, that's something that we want to correct atevery turn.
Snow connects Chambers' elliptical comments about biology to the debate overthe roots and causes of sexual orientation. Chambers tells CNN:
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/882/173/
Gay Activist Petitions for
Washington's Return to Grey's Anatomy
Former Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington is getting some surprising support from a prominent activist in the Gay/Lesbian community. According to various internet reports, as well as the Associated Press, prominent Gay / Lesbian activist Jasmyne Cannick, who has previously worked with Washington, is petitioning for the actor to be reinstated to Grey's Anatomy, and is countering the charges of homophobia on Washington's behalf by firing claims of racism at ABC.
Read More...
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/873/173/
Ryan White Cuts Will Impact
South Florida HIV Population
Every week, Oakland Park HIV patient Peter Giraldo goes for acupuncture and herapeutic massage to lessen severe nerve pain in his extremities caused by his medications and diabetes. But the therapies will vanish next month, and other services used by thousands of South Florida HIV/AIDS patients will shrink dramatically as a result of federal budget cuts now coming to a head, county health officials said. Substance abuse treatment, nutritional counseling and other programs stand to be cut.
Read More...
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
GLBT DIGEST June 19, 2007
**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.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-erasure.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
June 19, 2007
Erasure's Clarke And Bell Bask In "Light"
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:13 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Erasure has remained in the spotlight for more thantwo decades, beginning with the British duo's single "Who Needs Love (LikeThat)" in 1985.
In May, Erasure's longtime label, Mute Records, released the band's 13thstudio album, "Light at the End of the World." After the acoustic-leaningprevious set (2006's "Union Street"), "Light" finds bandmates Vince Clarke(a founding member of Depeche Mode) and Andy Bell returning to theirsynth-pop roots.
These days, Erasure is touring the United States as part of the monthlongTrue Colors tour, which was conceived by Cyndi Lauper, and features Lauper,Debbie Harry and the Gossip. The "equality for all" trek supports the HumanRights Campaign, which seeks to improve the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexualand transgender Americans.
When True Colors wraps June 30 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Erasurewill take one week off and then commence its global Light at the End of theWorld tour July 6 in Tampa, Fla.
Q: Did you ever think Erasure would be actively recording and touring some20-plus years later?
Clarke: When you start out, you're really just looking to the next day orthe next week. In the beginning, we were really looking from gig to gig.That was as far as we could see. I can't believe we've been together for solong and that we've managed to sustain a fan base for this amount of time.It's amazing to me.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/us/19child.html?pagewanted=print
June 19, 2007
Judge Dissolves Civil Union in Custody Fight
By ADAM LIPTAK
A family court judge in Vermont on Friday dissolved a civil union betweentwo women whose fight over their daughter had attracted national attentionand for a time put a judge in Virginia at odds with one in Vermont overwhether a child can have two mothers.
The Vermont judge, William D. Cohen of Rutland Family Court, affirmed thatthe two women were legal parents of Isabella Miller-Jenkins, 5. But JudgeCohen awarded sole physical and legal custody of Isabella to her biologicalmother, Lisa Miller.
Judge Cohen ordered Ms. Miller, who now lives in Virginia, to allow herformer lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins, to spend alternate weekends and someholidays with Isabella.
The ruling was a relatively routine one, as higher courts had decided thelarger questions in the case. In August, the Vermont Supreme Court ruledthat the two women were legal parents. A few months later, an appeals courtin Virginia, reversing a lower court judge there, accepted that ruling. TheVirginia Supreme Court has not yet weighed in.
In April, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of theVermont decision.
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washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502222_pf.html
How Far Can Your Dollar Stretch?
By Sally Squires
Tuesday, June 19, 2007; HE05
Several members of Congress recently made news when they tried to see ifthey could subsist on $21 per week -- the average amount that food stamprecipients receive to supplement their income.
Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.),co-sponsors of legislation to add $4 billion to the $33 billion food stampprogram, challenged their colleagues to join them in trying to eat for just$1 per meal.
McGovern struggled: "No organic foods, no fresh vegetables; we were lookingfor the cheapest of everything," he told The Washington Post as a food stamprecipient helped him shop. "We got spaghetti and hamburger meat that washigh in fat -- the fattiest meat on the shelf. I have high cholesterol andalways try to get the leanest, but it's expensive. It's almost impossible tomake healthy choices on a food-stamp diet."
No question: That's a tight budget. But with a few cooking skills and alittle basic nutrition knowledge, it's doable.
Food stamp benefits, which go to 26 million low-income Americans annually,are given out monthly, not weekly, allowing recipients to buy in bulk. Thataverage $21 per person per week becomes about $90 for the full month. Afamily of four can receive a maximum of $518 per month -- or about $120 perweek, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-flpgeorge0619pnjun19,0,4776506,print.story
Witness says Curious George creator was targeted through ad in gay magazine
By Missy Diaz
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 19, 2007
The night he met his violent end, Alan Shalleck, the creator of CuriousGeorge children's books, had planned an evening of sex with two men he metthrough a gay magazine ad, according to a taped confession from VincentPuglisi, who with co-defendant Rex Ditto is charged with Shalleck's February2006 slaying.
Puglisi, an Oakland Park restaurant worker, told investigators that heresponded to the ad about a year before he and Ditto arrived at the76-year-old Shalleck's Boynton Beach mobile home for the purported three-waytryst. In reality, Puglisi said, Ditto planned to rob and murder Shalleck,who Ditto thought might have money.
Puglisi said he didn't want to participate in the crimes but went along withthe plot because he loved Ditto.
Circuit Judge Edward Garrison spent Monday afternoon listening to testimonyin Puglisi's attempt to have his statement to police suppressed. Puglisimaintains Boynton Beach police lacked probable cause to hold him forquestioning the night they showed up at his job at a Wilton Manors eatery.
Assistant Public Defenders Shari Vrod and Adrienne Ellis will further arguethat police failed to adequately advise their client of his Miranda rightsor get a proper waiver of those rights. They also accuse police of usingcoercive techniques to solicit the confession.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-gay-rights,0,6879586,print.story
Gay-Rights Groups Buoyed by Recent Gains
By DAVID CRARY
Associated Press Writer
June 18, 2007, 4:38 PM EDT
NEW YORK -- The latest twists in the gay marriage debate create an oddlydivided America, with only its Northeast corner and Pacific Coastrecognizing same-sex unions. But gay-rights leaders are encouraged byprogress on other parts of their agenda across the nation's heartland.
Three more states -- Oregon, Iowa and Colorado -- have enacted laws thisyear outlawing anti-gay discrimination, raising the total to 20 states thataccount for more than half the U.S. population. Twelve of those statesextend those protections to transgender people.
Elsewhere, politicians who became the first openly gay members of theirstate legislatures have had an impact, helping pass gay-rights bills orthwarting measures they viewed as anti-gay. In Arkansas, for example, stateRep. Kathy Webb's heartfelt arguments played a role in the rejection of abill to bar gays from adopting or foster-parenting.
"It makes a difference when it's personal," Webb said in a telephoneinterview. "It's harder to ignore the evidence when it's a friend andcolleague who's talking."
In Dallas, openly gay city councilman Ed Oakley emerged from an 11-candidatefield to reach Saturday's runoff election for mayor. Though he lost,activists were pleased by his 42 percent support in what traditionally hasbeen considered a conservative city.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flrxhiv0619nbjun19,0,1391665,print.story
Federal budget cuts mean S. Florida HIV/AIDS patients to lose services
By Bob LaMendola
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 19, 2007
Every week, Oakland Park HIV patient Peter Giraldo goes for acupuncture andtherapeutic massage to lessen severe nerve pain in his extremities caused byhis medications and diabetes.
But the therapies will vanish next month, and other services used bythousands of South Florida HIV/AIDS patients will shrink dramatically as aresult of federal budget cuts now coming to a head, county health officialssaid. Substance abuse treatment, nutritional counseling and other programsstand to be cut.
For a second straight year, local HIV budget planners said they arestruggling to stretch declining grants from the federal Ryan White Program.
"The money keeps getting smaller but the number of patients keeps gettinglarger," said Kathleen Cannon, a funding co-chairman on the Broward CountyHIV Health Services Planning Council, which allocates Ryan White money.
Broward is receiving a grant of $13.1 million, down from $15 million lastyear. Palm Beach County is getting $7.7 million, down from the sharply cut$8.3 million received last year. Each county hopes to get another milliondollars in a final allotment in August, but because more cities arecompeting for money this year, the amounts may be only a few hundredthousand, officials said.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=It%27s+Queer%2C+It%27s+Here%2C+It%27s+for+Everyone&expire=&urlID=22748544&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.backstage.com%2Fbso%2Fnews_reviews%2Ffeatures%2Ffeature_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003600158&partnerID=81046
It's Queer, It's Here, It's for Everyone
Across the country, LGBT theatre increasingly speaks to a wider audience.
June 18, 2007
By Gerard Raymond
Look at theatre fare across the country over the next two months: Lesbian,gay, bisexual, and transgender theatre is busting out all over. Well, ofcourse. It's June, and that means Pride Month - the traditional time tocelebrate all things queer and LGBT. Pride celebrations are now aninternational rite, with roots going back to the Stonewall riots in New YorkCity in 1969. But what happens the rest of the year? Back Stage spoke withseveral artistic directors responsible for running year-round,self-identified LGBT/queer theatres or special series, and we got responsesas diverse as the communities and cities from which they hail.
Still Speaking to the Community
Lesbian- and gay-identified theatre companies started springing up aroundthe country in the 1970s and '80s, when there was little or no gayrepresentation in mainstream culture. Some of these companies - notably SanFrancisco's Theatre Rhinoceros (founded in 1977), Celebration Theatre in LosAngeles (1982), and San Diego's Diversionary Theatre (1986) - are stillaround today; the granddaddy of them all, New York City's TOSOS (whichstands for "the other side of silence"), founded by playwright Doric Wilsonin 1974, went into hibernation in 1979 but re-emerged as TOSOS II in 2001.
Since the mid-1990s, however, the issue of lack of representation haschanged noticeably, as the landscape of mainstream culture has expanded toinclude the likes of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-, Tony-, and Emmy-winningAngels in America and Terrence McNally's commercial hit Love! Valour!Compassion!, as well as the numerous gay and lesbian characters featuredregularly on network and cable television.
"Yes, you can't turn on the TV without getting gay characters - I get thatfrom my dad and my aunts and uncles," says David Zak, artistic director ofChicago's Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, with a laugh. So how does that affectBailiwick's annual Pride Series, a fixture for the past two decades? "To beperfectly frank, as things get more and more mainstream, we always debatewhether our Pride Series is necessary," Zak acknowledges. "And every year wecome back and say yes. There are still a lot of things to explore in the gaycommunity in terms of our politics, and so many of the behaviors are eithernew to this generation or are the same behaviors that have been around inthe community from the beginning."
Dan Kirsch, executive and artistic director of Diversionary Theatre, echoesthat thought. "We know that people come out every day and that it's still ajourney that has to be taken," he says. Kirsch points to Diversionary'supcoming production of Harvey Fierstein's landmark Torch Song Trilogy,slated for November. "Most people have only seen it as a movie," heexplains. "Even though it's 25 years after the Broadway production, it'sstill timely and contemporary, and it's important to share that culture andcommunity memory, as it were, with our audience." Diversionary's slate fornext season also includes McNally's Corpus Christi. "We don't want to losepart of our culture because LGBT culture is being mainstreamed," Kirschsays.
"As long as we exist and we have our own culture, there's going to be aneed, especially in cities that are not as culturally diverse as, say, LosAngeles or New York," observes Bill Kaiser, who for the past 15 years hasperformed a unique service by maintaining a national directory of LGBT/queertheatres and productions. His website, On the Purple Circuit, lists theatresacross the country and provides valuable information for playwrights andproducers. To Kaiser's point, we also found different approaches to gaytheatre programming in the two major cultural capitals.
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The Miami Herald
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/
June 19, 2007
Ultra-Orthodox protests against Israeli gay pride parade fall flat
From Haaretz:
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community is showing reluctance to participate inHaredi protests against the Jerusalem gay pride parade slated to take placeon Thursday.
Religious activists leading the struggle to cancel the parade are nearingthe last round of their fight, but despite their efforts, it the campaignseems not to be getting off the ground.
For example, organizers of Sunday's mass protest rally on Bar-Ilan Street inthe capital called it in advance "the 100,000-strong demonstration."
Police estimated the crowd at 10,000, but even that figure was exaggerated.In reality, the demonstration that was meant to "shake the ground for thesanctity of Jerusalem" attracted no more than several thousand protesters.
The heads of Sephardi and Lithuanian yeshivas in Jerusalem have instructedtheir students to stay away from the protests. Their decision is not due tosupport for the gay parade, but because the general ultra-Orthodoxpopulation is no longer willing to expose its children to the existence of astrict sexual taboo.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46494.asp
June 19, 2007
Gay groups call for homophobic lawmaker's job
A Florida legislator who allegedly told a group of HIV/AIDS activists andlobbyists that his gay cousin deserved to die after contracting AIDS hassparked an outcry.
Gay and AIDS activists have called for everything from a formal censure ofRepublican representative D. Alan Hays to his being removed from the statehouse of representatives.
Minutes after a Friday press conference with many groups, Hays released astatement denying the alleged comments.
"I am known for being plain-spoken and for speaking my mind, but I amoutraged that this group is making these claims against me," Hays wrote in astatement. "I have spent a lifetime as a health-care professional and havecompassionately cared for several patients afflicted with AIDS."
According to the Florida Sentinel, this is Hays's second antigay outburstthis year. In March he told a group of students, at a debate over anantibullying bill, that they needed psychological treatment because they aregay. Hays is a member of the house health care general committee. Accordingto his bio, Hays was elected to the house in 2004 and is affiliated with theFlorida Medical Association Council, is a retired dentist, and won ChristianCoalition Faith & Family awards in 2005 and 2006. He has also been honoredby the state Association of Health Plans and the Florida Chamber ofCommerce.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46460.asp
June 19, 2007
New Jersey becomes ninth state to protect transgender people
Starting Sunday, New Jersey joined eight other U.S. states in making itillegal for employers and landlords to discriminate against transgenderpeople.
The law, which sailed through the legislature in December, has receivedlittle attention in a state that is gaining a reputation for being welcomingto lesbian, gay, and transgender people. Earlier this year, New Jersey beganallowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness ofpeople who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. MaraKeisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equalityin Washington, said she expects more states to follow, including a handfulin 2007 and 2008.
''It's really simply a reaction to there being more [transgender] people whoare out,'' Keisling said. ''As more people transition, it becomes safer totransition.''
The law makes it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant because of his orher gender status, and companies cannot refuse to hire people because theyare transsexual, cross-dressers, asexual, of ambiguous gender, or simply nottraditionally feminine or masculine. The law also bans discrimination incredit, business contracts, and public accommodations such as stores orrestaurants.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46471.asp
June 19, 2007
Lesbian moms custody dispute finally settled in Vermont
A Vermont judge has dissolved the civil union of two lesbian former loversand awarded custody of their 5-year-old daughter to one, with regularvisitation for the other.
For three years, the girl's biological mother, Lisa Miller, who now claimsshe is heterosexual, has been fighting efforts by her former partner, JanetJenkins, to maintain contact with the girl, Isabella.
The courts have consistently ruled in Jenkins's favor. In April, the U.S.Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a decision by the Vermont supremecourt awarding Jenkins visitation rights.
In his decision, Rutland County family court judge William Cohen awardedcustody of Isabella to Miller, who lives in Winchester, Va. He also grantedregular visitation to Jenkins, who lives in Fair Haven, Vt.
Starting in August, Jenkins and Isabella are to spend every other weekendtogether, alternating between Vermont and Virginia.
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365gay.com
http://365gay.com/opinion/libby/libby.htm
Pride and Guts
by Libby Post
So, it's June--Pride Month for us lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenderfolks.
Thousands of us gathered in Albany's Washington Park this past Sunday forthe annual Capital Pride Parade and Festival. We got there around 2 p.m.,after the parade but in the middle of the festival, and were pleasantlysurprised to see so many people celebrating their sexual orientation andgender identity.
Millions throughout the country and the world celebrate their pridethroughout June. It is estimated that two million people converged on SaoPaolo, Brazil for what organizers say was the largest Pride Parade in theworld. This logistical feat was pulled off in a country that ranks first inviolence against gays and where, according to organizers, "a homosexual ismurdered here every two days-just for being homosexual."
All this jubilation is just a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to whathappened in Massachusetts last week. The state legislature did the rightthing-it said no to a measure that would have asked voters to amend thestate constitution and ban same-sex marriage in that state. Amending thatstate's constitution means you have to have two successive sittinglegislatures vote on the measure. It only needs one-quarter of themembers-or 50 lawmakers-to say yes to get the measure passed and on theballot. They said yes last year. They said hell no this year.
Massachusetts Governor Duval Patrick spent a lot of political capital todefeat the measure. He ran on a platform of equality for all in the BayState and he hasn't stepped away, backed down or given in one centimeter,let alone an inch. Patrick, the state's first African American governor,understands that civil rights shouldn't be something an electorate can voteup or down. Civil rights are for all of our nation's citizens-what is sofrustrating is that we have to fight so hard to get them.
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The Two-Faced "Love" of Exodus International
"Ex-gay" group Exodus International swears they love gay people when infront of the mainstream media. When talking to their right wing base orChristian media, however, they don't sound quite so loving.
Truth Wins Out's latest video, "The Two-Faced Love of Exodus International"shows a series of mean-spirited clips from Exodus International's TV show"Pure Passion."
Within the first fifteen minutes of the show, the hosts repeatedly denigratethe lives and families of GLBT people - referring to them as perverse orsexually broken. Exodus may talk a good game, but the truth is, theirdisdain for openly gay people does not lie far below their surfaceprofessions of love. In essence, when they say they "love" gay people, theyare bearing false witness.
Link:
http://www.truthwinsout.org/videos/the-two-faced-love-of-exodus-international
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The Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance 2007: An Update for our Friends
and Supporters
To: pride@joh.org.il
This week, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community andour supporters will again struggle for our freedom of expression and civilrights in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance is apersonal, social and community effort aimed at creating a more tolerancesocialety where all people are accepted and respected for who they are. Bycreating a public space for members of the LGBT community and its allies,Jerusalem Pride aims to enable Jerusalemites at different stages of thecoming-out process to find a meaningful existence in the Holy City.
In Jerusalem homophobia is an unquestionable fact of life in manycommunities. Pride questions the abuse of "religious" values used to justify discrimination and brings the struggle for univeral humanism to the mostsacred front- Israel. Internationally, Pride leverages Jerusalem'suniversal status to capture the attention of the world and share its messagewith a global audience.
Last November´s violent and intimidating events only served as proof that wemust assure that our rights as citizens of Jerusalem. This summer as inpast years, all Jerusalemites who value their freedom will march with us inDowntown Jerusalem. Our community will take to the streets with Pride andbring tolerance to Jerusalem. This summer's march will put Jerusalem, Israeland our leaders to the true test of democracy and civil rights. We will notlet the threats of violence silence us or challenge Israeli democracy. Thishistoric battle on the forefront of human rights in Jerusalem has alreadymet with considerable challenges in past year and this year has not beeneasier.
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The Detroit News
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/OPINION03/706180326
by Deb Price
Conflicting tales raise questions on surgeon general nominee
Has President Bush nominated a Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Homophobe to be America'sdoctor, surgeon general of the United States?
The man that past associates of Kentucky physician James Holsinger describesounds like two very different doctors -- one professional and respectful indealing with gay people; the other monstrously prejudiced.
Phyllis Nash, a professor of behavioral medicine, paints a reassuringportrait of the Holsinger she worked with at the University of Kentucky fornine years. In the late 1990s, she says, Holsinger helped a gay universitylawyer and his partner cope with terminal cancer. "The morning after he wasdiagnosed, Dr. Holsinger was there in his living room with him and hispartner, offering support and guidance and counsel."
Later, Holsinger helped a lesbian employee of the university become amother. "She wanted to have a baby, and Dr. Holsinger intervened and helpedher to a sperm bank," says Nash, adding that the woman told her the story.
Then in 2002, several Kentucky lawmakers went into a tizzy because theuniversity medical center intended to host a panel on lesbian health. Nashalerted Holsinger, the center's chancellor.
"He was unflinching," she says. "He said, 'We have an absoluteresponsibility to help health care practitioners meet the health care needsof lesbian patients.'" The panel met.
Other portraits paint a scary Holsinger, one not above using his M.D.credentials to try to cow nonphysicians into echoing his hostility tohomosexuality.
The Rev. J. Philip Wogaman has unpleasant memories of serving with Holsingeron a Methodist Church committee that studied homosexuality. With a "childishdisplay of anger," Holsinger resigned, Wogaman says, because most of thecommittee favored being respectful toward faithful gay couples.
Before quitting, Holsinger, then chief medical director of the VeteransHealth Administration, volunteered to share his expertise. The result was a1991 paper he titled "The Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality" -- gay malesex is unnaturally creepy.
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News.BBC.co.uk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6757323.stm
June 15, 2007
'Censors end' drag artist's show
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Islamabad
Pakistan's first and only television chat show hosted by atransvestite is being taken off air after falling foul of the state censor,the host says.
Ali Saleem, who dresses up as Begum Nawazish Ali for the show, saidits last broadcast will be on 1 July.
The popular late night programme features politicians and celebritiesin frank conversations.
It is believed to have aggravated feelings in the army with itsremarks about the military.
Referring to pressure from the censors, Ali Saleem told the BBC: "Myshow was being slaughtered and the channel was helpless to do anything aboutit."
He said that some members of the army were particularly offended thatthe character of Begum Nawazish Ali is supposed to be the widow of an armycolonel.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
SLDN Salutes New Advocacy Film about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from Brave NewFoundation Film, Featuring Dismissed Gay Arabic Linguist, Debuts at TakeBack America Conference
Washington, D.C. - Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) joinedrepresentatives of the Brave New Foundation at the Take Back AmericaConference in Washington today for the debut of a new film and web advocacycampaign aimed at building grassroots support for repeal of "Don't Ask,Don't Tell," the military's ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel. Thefilm, also available online at www.lifttheban.org
"This dynamic new project from the Brave New Foundation showcases the impact'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' continues to exact on our armed forces," said SteveRalls, director of communications for SLDN. "Stephen Benjamin's storyreminds us that discrimination has a very real price. Since 1993, at least58 Arabic speakers have been dismissed under the law, as well as countlessother specialists who bring much-needed skills to our national defense. Withthis new campaign, the public can speak out against the ban and join ourcoalition partners in building support for repeal. We are proud to beworking alongside Brave New Foundation to build grassroots support fortoppling 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'"
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=98534
Iran: Death Penalty For Making Porn
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)-- Iran's parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a billthat could lead to the death penalty for persons convicted of working in theproduction of pornographic movies.
In a 148-5 vote, lawmakers approved a measure saying "producers ofpornographic works and main elements in their production are consideredcorruptors of the world and could be sentenced to punishment as corruptorsof the world."
The term, "corruptor of the world" is taken from the Quran, the Muslim holybook, and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual's criminaloffenses. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.
The "main elements" referred to in the draft include producers, directors,cameramen and actors involved in making a pornographic video.
Besides videos, the bill covers all electronic visual material, such as DVDsand CDs. Other material, such as pornographic magazines and books arealready banned under Iranian law.
To become law, the bill requires approval from the Guardian Council, aconstitutional watchdog in this conservative Islamic country.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Police Terror Directed Towards Gay Venues in Istanbul
Where are the Turkish police headed for?
On the night of June 17, Saturday, Turkish police has raided a gay bar inTaksim area. Gay men were forced to leave the place with the threat ofpepper gas and batons and some of them were harassed physically andmaltreated.
During the incident that took place on Saturday night around 2:30 am at thegay bar called "Tekyon", the police went into the bar and yelled at thecustomers in a very rude fashion, used words like "out!", "clear the area!","leave ulan!" (a Turkish insult word). As the attitude was outrageous, apart of the crowd wanted to show a reaction but the police attacked themwith pepper gas and batons.
Bar owners commented: "Police has raided the bar without showing anyparticular reason and they were harsh and homophobic. There couldn't havebeen this kind of interference before but it is not surprising that this ishappening as a result of the excessive authority given to the policeforces". It has also been stated that physical violence was used in theincident and that it was not hard to imagine what would have happened, ifthe prosecutor, though late, had not stepped in.
One of the gay men who was at the scene, Deniz Kar (23), said: "Cops haveclearly attempted a lynch with their eyes full of hatred and homophobia andwe were so shocked that we did not know what to do. One of the cops pushedme and attacked me. He threatened us with his baton and pepper gas and if Ihad resisted I would have certainly faced physical violence. This is againsthuman rights and I want to know where the police are taking this powerfrom!"
The police yelled to disperse the crowd that had gathered in front of thebar after they were forced to leave the place and they threatened the crowdwith their batons. When the crowd started clapping to protest, they wereattacked by the police again.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
New York Magazine:
The Science of Gaydar
By David France
Some scientists believe gay men and lesbians share a number of biologicalcharacteristics, including the length of fingers, density of fingerprintridges, direction of hair whorl and other traits.
http://nymag.com/news/features/33520/
This article appears in the June 25, 2007 issue of New York Magazine.
If sexual orientation is biological, are the traits that make people seemgay innate, too? The new research on everything from voice pitch to hairwhorl.
As a presence in the world-a body hanging from a subway strap or pressedinto an elevator, a figure crossing the street-I am neither markedlymasculine nor notably effeminate. Nor am I typically perceived asandrogynous, not in my uniform of Diesels and boots, not even when I wasyounger and favored dangling earrings and bright Jack Purcells. But mostpeople immediately read me (correctly) as gay. It takes only a glance tomake my truth obvious. I know this from strangers who find gay peopleoffensive enough to elicit a remark-catcalls from cab windows, to use arecent example-as well as from countless casual social engagements in whichpeople easily assume my orientation, no sensitive gaydar necessary. I'm notso much out-of-the-closet as "self-evident," to use Quentin Crisp's phrase,although being of a younger generation, I can't subscribe to his belief thatit is a kind of disfigurement requiring lavender hair rinse.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-exgay18jun18,1,296931.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
From the Los Angeles Times
New ground in debate on 'curing' gays
Christian ministries who see homosexuality as a treatable disorder arestarting to think that choice may not be a factor.
By Stephanie Simon
Times Staff Writer
June 18, 2007
Alan Chambers directs Exodus International, widely described as the nation'slargest ex-gay ministry. But when he addresses the group's FreedomConference at Concordia University in Irvine this month, Chambers won'tcelebrate successful "ex-gays."
Truth is, he's not sure he's ever met one.
With years of therapy, Chambers says, he has mostly conquered his ownattraction to men; he's a husband and a father, and he identifies asstraight. But lately, he's come to resent the term "ex-gay": It's too neat,implying a clean break with the past, when he still struggles at times withhomosexual temptation. "By no means would we ever say change can be suddenor complete," Chambers said.
His personal denunciation of the term "ex-gay" - his organization has yet tofollow suit - is just one example of shifting ground in the polarizingdebate on homosexuality.
Despite the fundamental gulf that divides them, gay-rights activists andthose who see homosexuality as a sinful disorder are starting to reachagreement on some practical points.
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-erasure.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
June 19, 2007
Erasure's Clarke And Bell Bask In "Light"
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:13 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Erasure has remained in the spotlight for more thantwo decades, beginning with the British duo's single "Who Needs Love (LikeThat)" in 1985.
In May, Erasure's longtime label, Mute Records, released the band's 13thstudio album, "Light at the End of the World." After the acoustic-leaningprevious set (2006's "Union Street"), "Light" finds bandmates Vince Clarke(a founding member of Depeche Mode) and Andy Bell returning to theirsynth-pop roots.
These days, Erasure is touring the United States as part of the monthlongTrue Colors tour, which was conceived by Cyndi Lauper, and features Lauper,Debbie Harry and the Gossip. The "equality for all" trek supports the HumanRights Campaign, which seeks to improve the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexualand transgender Americans.
When True Colors wraps June 30 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Erasurewill take one week off and then commence its global Light at the End of theWorld tour July 6 in Tampa, Fla.
Q: Did you ever think Erasure would be actively recording and touring some20-plus years later?
Clarke: When you start out, you're really just looking to the next day orthe next week. In the beginning, we were really looking from gig to gig.That was as far as we could see. I can't believe we've been together for solong and that we've managed to sustain a fan base for this amount of time.It's amazing to me.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/us/19child.html?pagewanted=print
June 19, 2007
Judge Dissolves Civil Union in Custody Fight
By ADAM LIPTAK
A family court judge in Vermont on Friday dissolved a civil union betweentwo women whose fight over their daughter had attracted national attentionand for a time put a judge in Virginia at odds with one in Vermont overwhether a child can have two mothers.
The Vermont judge, William D. Cohen of Rutland Family Court, affirmed thatthe two women were legal parents of Isabella Miller-Jenkins, 5. But JudgeCohen awarded sole physical and legal custody of Isabella to her biologicalmother, Lisa Miller.
Judge Cohen ordered Ms. Miller, who now lives in Virginia, to allow herformer lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins, to spend alternate weekends and someholidays with Isabella.
The ruling was a relatively routine one, as higher courts had decided thelarger questions in the case. In August, the Vermont Supreme Court ruledthat the two women were legal parents. A few months later, an appeals courtin Virginia, reversing a lower court judge there, accepted that ruling. TheVirginia Supreme Court has not yet weighed in.
In April, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of theVermont decision.
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washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502222_pf.html
How Far Can Your Dollar Stretch?
By Sally Squires
Tuesday, June 19, 2007; HE05
Several members of Congress recently made news when they tried to see ifthey could subsist on $21 per week -- the average amount that food stamprecipients receive to supplement their income.
Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.),co-sponsors of legislation to add $4 billion to the $33 billion food stampprogram, challenged their colleagues to join them in trying to eat for just$1 per meal.
McGovern struggled: "No organic foods, no fresh vegetables; we were lookingfor the cheapest of everything," he told The Washington Post as a food stamprecipient helped him shop. "We got spaghetti and hamburger meat that washigh in fat -- the fattiest meat on the shelf. I have high cholesterol andalways try to get the leanest, but it's expensive. It's almost impossible tomake healthy choices on a food-stamp diet."
No question: That's a tight budget. But with a few cooking skills and alittle basic nutrition knowledge, it's doable.
Food stamp benefits, which go to 26 million low-income Americans annually,are given out monthly, not weekly, allowing recipients to buy in bulk. Thataverage $21 per person per week becomes about $90 for the full month. Afamily of four can receive a maximum of $518 per month -- or about $120 perweek, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-flpgeorge0619pnjun19,0,4776506,print.story
Witness says Curious George creator was targeted through ad in gay magazine
By Missy Diaz
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 19, 2007
The night he met his violent end, Alan Shalleck, the creator of CuriousGeorge children's books, had planned an evening of sex with two men he metthrough a gay magazine ad, according to a taped confession from VincentPuglisi, who with co-defendant Rex Ditto is charged with Shalleck's February2006 slaying.
Puglisi, an Oakland Park restaurant worker, told investigators that heresponded to the ad about a year before he and Ditto arrived at the76-year-old Shalleck's Boynton Beach mobile home for the purported three-waytryst. In reality, Puglisi said, Ditto planned to rob and murder Shalleck,who Ditto thought might have money.
Puglisi said he didn't want to participate in the crimes but went along withthe plot because he loved Ditto.
Circuit Judge Edward Garrison spent Monday afternoon listening to testimonyin Puglisi's attempt to have his statement to police suppressed. Puglisimaintains Boynton Beach police lacked probable cause to hold him forquestioning the night they showed up at his job at a Wilton Manors eatery.
Assistant Public Defenders Shari Vrod and Adrienne Ellis will further arguethat police failed to adequately advise their client of his Miranda rightsor get a proper waiver of those rights. They also accuse police of usingcoercive techniques to solicit the confession.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-gay-rights,0,6879586,print.story
Gay-Rights Groups Buoyed by Recent Gains
By DAVID CRARY
Associated Press Writer
June 18, 2007, 4:38 PM EDT
NEW YORK -- The latest twists in the gay marriage debate create an oddlydivided America, with only its Northeast corner and Pacific Coastrecognizing same-sex unions. But gay-rights leaders are encouraged byprogress on other parts of their agenda across the nation's heartland.
Three more states -- Oregon, Iowa and Colorado -- have enacted laws thisyear outlawing anti-gay discrimination, raising the total to 20 states thataccount for more than half the U.S. population. Twelve of those statesextend those protections to transgender people.
Elsewhere, politicians who became the first openly gay members of theirstate legislatures have had an impact, helping pass gay-rights bills orthwarting measures they viewed as anti-gay. In Arkansas, for example, stateRep. Kathy Webb's heartfelt arguments played a role in the rejection of abill to bar gays from adopting or foster-parenting.
"It makes a difference when it's personal," Webb said in a telephoneinterview. "It's harder to ignore the evidence when it's a friend andcolleague who's talking."
In Dallas, openly gay city councilman Ed Oakley emerged from an 11-candidatefield to reach Saturday's runoff election for mayor. Though he lost,activists were pleased by his 42 percent support in what traditionally hasbeen considered a conservative city.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flrxhiv0619nbjun19,0,1391665,print.story
Federal budget cuts mean S. Florida HIV/AIDS patients to lose services
By Bob LaMendola
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 19, 2007
Every week, Oakland Park HIV patient Peter Giraldo goes for acupuncture andtherapeutic massage to lessen severe nerve pain in his extremities caused byhis medications and diabetes.
But the therapies will vanish next month, and other services used bythousands of South Florida HIV/AIDS patients will shrink dramatically as aresult of federal budget cuts now coming to a head, county health officialssaid. Substance abuse treatment, nutritional counseling and other programsstand to be cut.
For a second straight year, local HIV budget planners said they arestruggling to stretch declining grants from the federal Ryan White Program.
"The money keeps getting smaller but the number of patients keeps gettinglarger," said Kathleen Cannon, a funding co-chairman on the Broward CountyHIV Health Services Planning Council, which allocates Ryan White money.
Broward is receiving a grant of $13.1 million, down from $15 million lastyear. Palm Beach County is getting $7.7 million, down from the sharply cut$8.3 million received last year. Each county hopes to get another milliondollars in a final allotment in August, but because more cities arecompeting for money this year, the amounts may be only a few hundredthousand, officials said.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=It%27s+Queer%2C+It%27s+Here%2C+It%27s+for+Everyone&expire=&urlID=22748544&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.backstage.com%2Fbso%2Fnews_reviews%2Ffeatures%2Ffeature_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003600158&partnerID=81046
It's Queer, It's Here, It's for Everyone
Across the country, LGBT theatre increasingly speaks to a wider audience.
June 18, 2007
By Gerard Raymond
Look at theatre fare across the country over the next two months: Lesbian,gay, bisexual, and transgender theatre is busting out all over. Well, ofcourse. It's June, and that means Pride Month - the traditional time tocelebrate all things queer and LGBT. Pride celebrations are now aninternational rite, with roots going back to the Stonewall riots in New YorkCity in 1969. But what happens the rest of the year? Back Stage spoke withseveral artistic directors responsible for running year-round,self-identified LGBT/queer theatres or special series, and we got responsesas diverse as the communities and cities from which they hail.
Still Speaking to the Community
Lesbian- and gay-identified theatre companies started springing up aroundthe country in the 1970s and '80s, when there was little or no gayrepresentation in mainstream culture. Some of these companies - notably SanFrancisco's Theatre Rhinoceros (founded in 1977), Celebration Theatre in LosAngeles (1982), and San Diego's Diversionary Theatre (1986) - are stillaround today; the granddaddy of them all, New York City's TOSOS (whichstands for "the other side of silence"), founded by playwright Doric Wilsonin 1974, went into hibernation in 1979 but re-emerged as TOSOS II in 2001.
Since the mid-1990s, however, the issue of lack of representation haschanged noticeably, as the landscape of mainstream culture has expanded toinclude the likes of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-, Tony-, and Emmy-winningAngels in America and Terrence McNally's commercial hit Love! Valour!Compassion!, as well as the numerous gay and lesbian characters featuredregularly on network and cable television.
"Yes, you can't turn on the TV without getting gay characters - I get thatfrom my dad and my aunts and uncles," says David Zak, artistic director ofChicago's Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, with a laugh. So how does that affectBailiwick's annual Pride Series, a fixture for the past two decades? "To beperfectly frank, as things get more and more mainstream, we always debatewhether our Pride Series is necessary," Zak acknowledges. "And every year wecome back and say yes. There are still a lot of things to explore in the gaycommunity in terms of our politics, and so many of the behaviors are eithernew to this generation or are the same behaviors that have been around inthe community from the beginning."
Dan Kirsch, executive and artistic director of Diversionary Theatre, echoesthat thought. "We know that people come out every day and that it's still ajourney that has to be taken," he says. Kirsch points to Diversionary'supcoming production of Harvey Fierstein's landmark Torch Song Trilogy,slated for November. "Most people have only seen it as a movie," heexplains. "Even though it's 25 years after the Broadway production, it'sstill timely and contemporary, and it's important to share that culture andcommunity memory, as it were, with our audience." Diversionary's slate fornext season also includes McNally's Corpus Christi. "We don't want to losepart of our culture because LGBT culture is being mainstreamed," Kirschsays.
"As long as we exist and we have our own culture, there's going to be aneed, especially in cities that are not as culturally diverse as, say, LosAngeles or New York," observes Bill Kaiser, who for the past 15 years hasperformed a unique service by maintaining a national directory of LGBT/queertheatres and productions. His website, On the Purple Circuit, lists theatresacross the country and provides valuable information for playwrights andproducers. To Kaiser's point, we also found different approaches to gaytheatre programming in the two major cultural capitals.
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The Miami Herald
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/
June 19, 2007
Ultra-Orthodox protests against Israeli gay pride parade fall flat
From Haaretz:
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community is showing reluctance to participate inHaredi protests against the Jerusalem gay pride parade slated to take placeon Thursday.
Religious activists leading the struggle to cancel the parade are nearingthe last round of their fight, but despite their efforts, it the campaignseems not to be getting off the ground.
For example, organizers of Sunday's mass protest rally on Bar-Ilan Street inthe capital called it in advance "the 100,000-strong demonstration."
Police estimated the crowd at 10,000, but even that figure was exaggerated.In reality, the demonstration that was meant to "shake the ground for thesanctity of Jerusalem" attracted no more than several thousand protesters.
The heads of Sephardi and Lithuanian yeshivas in Jerusalem have instructedtheir students to stay away from the protests. Their decision is not due tosupport for the gay parade, but because the general ultra-Orthodoxpopulation is no longer willing to expose its children to the existence of astrict sexual taboo.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46494.asp
June 19, 2007
Gay groups call for homophobic lawmaker's job
A Florida legislator who allegedly told a group of HIV/AIDS activists andlobbyists that his gay cousin deserved to die after contracting AIDS hassparked an outcry.
Gay and AIDS activists have called for everything from a formal censure ofRepublican representative D. Alan Hays to his being removed from the statehouse of representatives.
Minutes after a Friday press conference with many groups, Hays released astatement denying the alleged comments.
"I am known for being plain-spoken and for speaking my mind, but I amoutraged that this group is making these claims against me," Hays wrote in astatement. "I have spent a lifetime as a health-care professional and havecompassionately cared for several patients afflicted with AIDS."
According to the Florida Sentinel, this is Hays's second antigay outburstthis year. In March he told a group of students, at a debate over anantibullying bill, that they needed psychological treatment because they aregay. Hays is a member of the house health care general committee. Accordingto his bio, Hays was elected to the house in 2004 and is affiliated with theFlorida Medical Association Council, is a retired dentist, and won ChristianCoalition Faith & Family awards in 2005 and 2006. He has also been honoredby the state Association of Health Plans and the Florida Chamber ofCommerce.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46460.asp
June 19, 2007
New Jersey becomes ninth state to protect transgender people
Starting Sunday, New Jersey joined eight other U.S. states in making itillegal for employers and landlords to discriminate against transgenderpeople.
The law, which sailed through the legislature in December, has receivedlittle attention in a state that is gaining a reputation for being welcomingto lesbian, gay, and transgender people. Earlier this year, New Jersey beganallowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness ofpeople who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. MaraKeisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equalityin Washington, said she expects more states to follow, including a handfulin 2007 and 2008.
''It's really simply a reaction to there being more [transgender] people whoare out,'' Keisling said. ''As more people transition, it becomes safer totransition.''
The law makes it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant because of his orher gender status, and companies cannot refuse to hire people because theyare transsexual, cross-dressers, asexual, of ambiguous gender, or simply nottraditionally feminine or masculine. The law also bans discrimination incredit, business contracts, and public accommodations such as stores orrestaurants.
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The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid46471.asp
June 19, 2007
Lesbian moms custody dispute finally settled in Vermont
A Vermont judge has dissolved the civil union of two lesbian former loversand awarded custody of their 5-year-old daughter to one, with regularvisitation for the other.
For three years, the girl's biological mother, Lisa Miller, who now claimsshe is heterosexual, has been fighting efforts by her former partner, JanetJenkins, to maintain contact with the girl, Isabella.
The courts have consistently ruled in Jenkins's favor. In April, the U.S.Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a decision by the Vermont supremecourt awarding Jenkins visitation rights.
In his decision, Rutland County family court judge William Cohen awardedcustody of Isabella to Miller, who lives in Winchester, Va. He also grantedregular visitation to Jenkins, who lives in Fair Haven, Vt.
Starting in August, Jenkins and Isabella are to spend every other weekendtogether, alternating between Vermont and Virginia.
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365gay.com
http://365gay.com/opinion/libby/libby.htm
Pride and Guts
by Libby Post
So, it's June--Pride Month for us lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenderfolks.
Thousands of us gathered in Albany's Washington Park this past Sunday forthe annual Capital Pride Parade and Festival. We got there around 2 p.m.,after the parade but in the middle of the festival, and were pleasantlysurprised to see so many people celebrating their sexual orientation andgender identity.
Millions throughout the country and the world celebrate their pridethroughout June. It is estimated that two million people converged on SaoPaolo, Brazil for what organizers say was the largest Pride Parade in theworld. This logistical feat was pulled off in a country that ranks first inviolence against gays and where, according to organizers, "a homosexual ismurdered here every two days-just for being homosexual."
All this jubilation is just a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to whathappened in Massachusetts last week. The state legislature did the rightthing-it said no to a measure that would have asked voters to amend thestate constitution and ban same-sex marriage in that state. Amending thatstate's constitution means you have to have two successive sittinglegislatures vote on the measure. It only needs one-quarter of themembers-or 50 lawmakers-to say yes to get the measure passed and on theballot. They said yes last year. They said hell no this year.
Massachusetts Governor Duval Patrick spent a lot of political capital todefeat the measure. He ran on a platform of equality for all in the BayState and he hasn't stepped away, backed down or given in one centimeter,let alone an inch. Patrick, the state's first African American governor,understands that civil rights shouldn't be something an electorate can voteup or down. Civil rights are for all of our nation's citizens-what is sofrustrating is that we have to fight so hard to get them.
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The Two-Faced "Love" of Exodus International
"Ex-gay" group Exodus International swears they love gay people when infront of the mainstream media. When talking to their right wing base orChristian media, however, they don't sound quite so loving.
Truth Wins Out's latest video, "The Two-Faced Love of Exodus International"shows a series of mean-spirited clips from Exodus International's TV show"Pure Passion."
Within the first fifteen minutes of the show, the hosts repeatedly denigratethe lives and families of GLBT people - referring to them as perverse orsexually broken. Exodus may talk a good game, but the truth is, theirdisdain for openly gay people does not lie far below their surfaceprofessions of love. In essence, when they say they "love" gay people, theyare bearing false witness.
Link:
http://www.truthwinsout.org/videos/the-two-faced-love-of-exodus-international
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The Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance 2007: An Update for our Friends
and Supporters
To: pride@joh.org.il
This week, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community andour supporters will again struggle for our freedom of expression and civilrights in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance is apersonal, social and community effort aimed at creating a more tolerancesocialety where all people are accepted and respected for who they are. Bycreating a public space for members of the LGBT community and its allies,Jerusalem Pride aims to enable Jerusalemites at different stages of thecoming-out process to find a meaningful existence in the Holy City.
In Jerusalem homophobia is an unquestionable fact of life in manycommunities. Pride questions the abuse of "religious" values used to justify discrimination and brings the struggle for univeral humanism to the mostsacred front- Israel. Internationally, Pride leverages Jerusalem'suniversal status to capture the attention of the world and share its messagewith a global audience.
Last November´s violent and intimidating events only served as proof that wemust assure that our rights as citizens of Jerusalem. This summer as inpast years, all Jerusalemites who value their freedom will march with us inDowntown Jerusalem. Our community will take to the streets with Pride andbring tolerance to Jerusalem. This summer's march will put Jerusalem, Israeland our leaders to the true test of democracy and civil rights. We will notlet the threats of violence silence us or challenge Israeli democracy. Thishistoric battle on the forefront of human rights in Jerusalem has alreadymet with considerable challenges in past year and this year has not beeneasier.
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The Detroit News
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/OPINION03/706180326
by Deb Price
Conflicting tales raise questions on surgeon general nominee
Has President Bush nominated a Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Homophobe to be America'sdoctor, surgeon general of the United States?
The man that past associates of Kentucky physician James Holsinger describesounds like two very different doctors -- one professional and respectful indealing with gay people; the other monstrously prejudiced.
Phyllis Nash, a professor of behavioral medicine, paints a reassuringportrait of the Holsinger she worked with at the University of Kentucky fornine years. In the late 1990s, she says, Holsinger helped a gay universitylawyer and his partner cope with terminal cancer. "The morning after he wasdiagnosed, Dr. Holsinger was there in his living room with him and hispartner, offering support and guidance and counsel."
Later, Holsinger helped a lesbian employee of the university become amother. "She wanted to have a baby, and Dr. Holsinger intervened and helpedher to a sperm bank," says Nash, adding that the woman told her the story.
Then in 2002, several Kentucky lawmakers went into a tizzy because theuniversity medical center intended to host a panel on lesbian health. Nashalerted Holsinger, the center's chancellor.
"He was unflinching," she says. "He said, 'We have an absoluteresponsibility to help health care practitioners meet the health care needsof lesbian patients.'" The panel met.
Other portraits paint a scary Holsinger, one not above using his M.D.credentials to try to cow nonphysicians into echoing his hostility tohomosexuality.
The Rev. J. Philip Wogaman has unpleasant memories of serving with Holsingeron a Methodist Church committee that studied homosexuality. With a "childishdisplay of anger," Holsinger resigned, Wogaman says, because most of thecommittee favored being respectful toward faithful gay couples.
Before quitting, Holsinger, then chief medical director of the VeteransHealth Administration, volunteered to share his expertise. The result was a1991 paper he titled "The Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality" -- gay malesex is unnaturally creepy.
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News.BBC.co.uk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6757323.stm
June 15, 2007
'Censors end' drag artist's show
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Islamabad
Pakistan's first and only television chat show hosted by atransvestite is being taken off air after falling foul of the state censor,the host says.
Ali Saleem, who dresses up as Begum Nawazish Ali for the show, saidits last broadcast will be on 1 July.
The popular late night programme features politicians and celebritiesin frank conversations.
It is believed to have aggravated feelings in the army with itsremarks about the military.
Referring to pressure from the censors, Ali Saleem told the BBC: "Myshow was being slaughtered and the channel was helpless to do anything aboutit."
He said that some members of the army were particularly offended thatthe character of Begum Nawazish Ali is supposed to be the widow of an armycolonel.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
SLDN Salutes New Advocacy Film about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from Brave NewFoundation Film, Featuring Dismissed Gay Arabic Linguist, Debuts at TakeBack America Conference
Washington, D.C. - Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) joinedrepresentatives of the Brave New Foundation at the Take Back AmericaConference in Washington today for the debut of a new film and web advocacycampaign aimed at building grassroots support for repeal of "Don't Ask,Don't Tell," the military's ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel. Thefilm, also available online at www.lifttheban.org
"This dynamic new project from the Brave New Foundation showcases the impact'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' continues to exact on our armed forces," said SteveRalls, director of communications for SLDN. "Stephen Benjamin's storyreminds us that discrimination has a very real price. Since 1993, at least58 Arabic speakers have been dismissed under the law, as well as countlessother specialists who bring much-needed skills to our national defense. Withthis new campaign, the public can speak out against the ban and join ourcoalition partners in building support for repeal. We are proud to beworking alongside Brave New Foundation to build grassroots support fortoppling 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'"
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=98534
Iran: Death Penalty For Making Porn
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)-- Iran's parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a billthat could lead to the death penalty for persons convicted of working in theproduction of pornographic movies.
In a 148-5 vote, lawmakers approved a measure saying "producers ofpornographic works and main elements in their production are consideredcorruptors of the world and could be sentenced to punishment as corruptorsof the world."
The term, "corruptor of the world" is taken from the Quran, the Muslim holybook, and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual's criminaloffenses. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.
The "main elements" referred to in the draft include producers, directors,cameramen and actors involved in making a pornographic video.
Besides videos, the bill covers all electronic visual material, such as DVDsand CDs. Other material, such as pornographic magazines and books arealready banned under Iranian law.
To become law, the bill requires approval from the Guardian Council, aconstitutional watchdog in this conservative Islamic country.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Police Terror Directed Towards Gay Venues in Istanbul
Where are the Turkish police headed for?
On the night of June 17, Saturday, Turkish police has raided a gay bar inTaksim area. Gay men were forced to leave the place with the threat ofpepper gas and batons and some of them were harassed physically andmaltreated.
During the incident that took place on Saturday night around 2:30 am at thegay bar called "Tekyon", the police went into the bar and yelled at thecustomers in a very rude fashion, used words like "out!", "clear the area!","leave ulan!" (a Turkish insult word). As the attitude was outrageous, apart of the crowd wanted to show a reaction but the police attacked themwith pepper gas and batons.
Bar owners commented: "Police has raided the bar without showing anyparticular reason and they were harsh and homophobic. There couldn't havebeen this kind of interference before but it is not surprising that this ishappening as a result of the excessive authority given to the policeforces". It has also been stated that physical violence was used in theincident and that it was not hard to imagine what would have happened, ifthe prosecutor, though late, had not stepped in.
One of the gay men who was at the scene, Deniz Kar (23), said: "Cops haveclearly attempted a lynch with their eyes full of hatred and homophobia andwe were so shocked that we did not know what to do. One of the cops pushedme and attacked me. He threatened us with his baton and pepper gas and if Ihad resisted I would have certainly faced physical violence. This is againsthuman rights and I want to know where the police are taking this powerfrom!"
The police yelled to disperse the crowd that had gathered in front of thebar after they were forced to leave the place and they threatened the crowdwith their batons. When the crowd started clapping to protest, they wereattacked by the police again.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
New York Magazine:
The Science of Gaydar
By David France
Some scientists believe gay men and lesbians share a number of biologicalcharacteristics, including the length of fingers, density of fingerprintridges, direction of hair whorl and other traits.
http://nymag.com/news/features/33520/
This article appears in the June 25, 2007 issue of New York Magazine.
If sexual orientation is biological, are the traits that make people seemgay innate, too? The new research on everything from voice pitch to hairwhorl.
As a presence in the world-a body hanging from a subway strap or pressedinto an elevator, a figure crossing the street-I am neither markedlymasculine nor notably effeminate. Nor am I typically perceived asandrogynous, not in my uniform of Diesels and boots, not even when I wasyounger and favored dangling earrings and bright Jack Purcells. But mostpeople immediately read me (correctly) as gay. It takes only a glance tomake my truth obvious. I know this from strangers who find gay peopleoffensive enough to elicit a remark-catcalls from cab windows, to use arecent example-as well as from countless casual social engagements in whichpeople easily assume my orientation, no sensitive gaydar necessary. I'm notso much out-of-the-closet as "self-evident," to use Quentin Crisp's phrase,although being of a younger generation, I can't subscribe to his belief thatit is a kind of disfigurement requiring lavender hair rinse.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-exgay18jun18,1,296931.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
From the Los Angeles Times
New ground in debate on 'curing' gays
Christian ministries who see homosexuality as a treatable disorder arestarting to think that choice may not be a factor.
By Stephanie Simon
Times Staff Writer
June 18, 2007
Alan Chambers directs Exodus International, widely described as the nation'slargest ex-gay ministry. But when he addresses the group's FreedomConference at Concordia University in Irvine this month, Chambers won'tcelebrate successful "ex-gays."
Truth is, he's not sure he's ever met one.
With years of therapy, Chambers says, he has mostly conquered his ownattraction to men; he's a husband and a father, and he identifies asstraight. But lately, he's come to resent the term "ex-gay": It's too neat,implying a clean break with the past, when he still struggles at times withhomosexual temptation. "By no means would we ever say change can be suddenor complete," Chambers said.
His personal denunciation of the term "ex-gay" - his organization has yet tofollow suit - is just one example of shifting ground in the polarizingdebate on homosexuality.
Despite the fundamental gulf that divides them, gay-rights activists andthose who see homosexuality as a sinful disorder are starting to reachagreement on some practical points.
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Monday, June 18, 2007
GLBT DIGEST June 18, 2007
**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.
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GaySports.com
http://www.gaysports.com/page.cfm?typeofsite=storydetail&ID=986&storyset=yes
Gay Australian Rugby Team Strips Down
By Dylan Vox
Australia's first gay Rugby Union team, the Sydney Convicts has found a newand highly exciting way to help them raise money to compete at the gay RugbyWorld Cup next year. The guys on the team have decided to strip down totheir bare butts and bits at the Rugger Bugger V party in Sydney and hope toraise enough money to make the trip to Dublin to defend their title.The convicts were formed in 2004 as a sort of make shift team with the goalof presenting an alternative image of gay men to both the mainstream and thegay community. They also hoped to make football accessible to those whowould otherwise be discouraged from playing rugby by perceived prejudice inthe mainstream football community.
Immediately the team took control of the field and began to win match aftermatch against established "straight" clubs and soon began to make a name orthemselves throughout the rugby community. They established the firstPurchas Cup named after Convicts founder Andrew "Fuzz" Purchas, which becamea successful competition in Australia.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/860/173/
Philharmonic, Ex-member Settle Anti-gay Complaint
Sunday, 17 June 2007 14:24
A discrimination complaint by a former Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestramusician who said he was fired after objecting to an anti-gay remark by afellow player has been settled.
Terms of the agreement between former second oboist J. Bud Roach andthe orchestra, which headed off a hearing scheduled for Monday at the stateDivision of Human Rights, were not disclosed.
Read More...
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/859/173/
Equality Forum Head Rebukes Dobbs
Lou Dobbs: The Pallor of Homophobia
By Malcolm Lazin
On his June 14 broadcast, CNN's Lou Dobbs claimed "a defeat for democracy"when the Massachusetts legislature decided not to authorize a voterreferendum on whether to ban same-sex marriage in the state's constitution.
As a regular viewer of Mr. Dobbs, I have not heard him opine when statelegislatures fail to approve other referenda as "a defeat for democracy."
Each state has a procedure to place a referendum on the ballot. This processprotects against an unfettered ability to have issues presented to votersthat lack adequate support. Under Massachusetts law, the support of 50legislators is required to place an issue before the voters. The vote inMassachusetts was 151 (77%) against this referendum and 45 (23%) in favor.
Contrary to Mr. Dobbs' belief, the vote was representative democracy inaction. The elected officials who cast ballots against the referendumincluded both Democrats and Republicans. Some legislators may have beenswayed by an April 2007 poll reported in The New York Times that found that56% of Massachusetts residents opposed amending the state constitution toprohibit same-sex marriage. In addition legislators may have found thereferendum divisive and a waste of time and resources.
Placing every issue before the voters for a referendum underminesrepresentative democracy. By making a stand for unfettered referendum, Mr.Dobbs's position is diminished by the pallor of homophobia.
Malcolm Lazin is the Executive Director of Equality Forum.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/858/173/
Gay Pub Slams John Travolta For Cross-Dressing Role
Sunday, 17 June 2007 13:44
A gay publication has called actor John Travolta a hypocrite for hiscross-dressing role in cult musical “Hairspray”, saying that it’s at oddswith his Scientologist beliefs.
According to Washington Blade journalist Kevin Naff, the “Pulp Fiction” actor's involvement with the movie is disingenuous.
Read More...
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/opinion/18mon1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
June 18, 2007
Editorial
Two Cheers on Global AIDS
Now that the Group of 8 industrialized nations has pledged to commit $60billion to combat AIDS and other diseases around the world in coming years —a substantial sum by any reckoning — Congress and other nationallegislatures ought to look hard for additional funds to close a looming gapbetween the funds committed and the needs of desperate patients.
The advanced nations — both the G-8 countries and other donor nations — havegreatly increased their funding for AIDS programs in recent years in belatedrecognition that the epidemic threatens to destroy not just its victims, butalso the social and economic fabric of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.We are pleased that President Bush has proposed spending some $30 billion tocombat AIDS abroad over a five-year period, from 2009 to 2013, but in truththat represents only a modest increase from the spending trajectory we werealready on. At its recent summit meeting, the Group of 8 pledged to commit$60 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria “over the coming years,”including the American contribution.
Yet even these pledges will not be enough to keep up with the devastatingepidemics. Tens of billions of dollars more will be needed to providetreatment, care and preventive services for AIDS alone over the next fiveyears.
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The New York Times
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/
June 14, 2007, 10:53 pm
Who’s for Hillary. And Who Isn’t.
Tags: authenticity, Hillary Clinton, the election
According to a Washington Post – ABC News poll published earlier this week,Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most consistent and enthusiastic female support isnow coming from high school graduates with incomes of less than $50,000 ayear. Young women like her best. Over age 45, college-educated,higher-earning women like her least. In fact, asked who they found most“honest,” “trustworthy” and “inspiring,” these women – Clinton’s peers –expressed more of a kinship with Barack Obama.
In a sense, none of this should really come as a surprise. Back in 2000,Clinton bonded like glue with middle class women in upstate New York – theyliked the way she came to speak with them and learned about their lives –but was a hard sell in the wealthy suburbs downstate.
“Non-college-educated women really like that she’s smart, that she’s a womanwho has worked for what she has, supported her family, kept her family lifeprivate and handled her marriage the way that she has; they’ve often madesimilar choices in their own lives,” says Celinda Lake, who has doneextensive polling on women’s attitudes toward Clinton since the time ofHillary’s first Senate race. “Upper-middle-class women are more judgmental.They see her as polarizing; they second-guess how she handled her personalissues. Non-college women react to this argument with: ‘They always say thisabout women. They always try to drag the woman down.’”
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Romneys-Surge.html?pagewanted=print
June 17, 2007
Romney Builds Support in Early States
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:45 p.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- Forget the national polls for Mitt Romney.
Slowly, methodically, the Republican presidential contender has seized theadvantage in the early states that count, relying on a solid organization,$4 million in advertising and an aggressive approach.
It's propelled him to the top of polls in the caucus and primary sites ofIowa and New Hampshire, and laid the foundation for what some analysts argueis greater success.
''Mitt Romney is now positioned as the front-runner for the nomination,''said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.''There's a long way to go, but to date he's running the most logical,thought-out, structured campaign. He's marching in the right cadence, he'sraising the money, he's spending it wiser and he seems to be on track.''
Romney continues to trail former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. JohnMcCain of Arizona and even former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee -- who hasyet to formally declare his candidacy -- in national polls of the Republicancontenders.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502078.html
We've Lost. Here's How To Handle It.
By Steven Simon and Ray Takeyh
Sunday, June 17, 2007; Page B01
Last week's bloodshed in Iraq and the bombing of what remained of thehistoric Shiite shrine in Samarra and of two Sunni mosques in Basra weremore reminders of a terrible truth: The war in Iraq is lost. The onlyquestion that remains -- for our gallant troops and our blinkeredpolicymakers -- is how to manage the inevitable. What the United Statesneeds now is a guide to how to lose -- how to start thinking aboutminimizing the damage done to American interests, saving lives andultimately wresting some good from this fiasco.
No longer can we avoid this bitter conclusion. Iraq's winner-take-allpolitics are increasingly vicious; there will be no open, pluralistic Iraqistate to take over from the United States. Iraq has no credible centralgovernment that U.S. forces can assist and no national army for them tofight alongside. U.S. troops can't beat the insurgency on their own; ourforces are too few and too isolated to compete with the insurgents for thepublic's support. Meanwhile, the country's militias have become a law untothemselves, and ethnic cleansing gallops forward.
But the most crucial reason why the war is lost is that the American peopledecisively rejected continuing U.S. military involvement last November.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46384.asp
06/16/07-06/18/07
Teen cites "gay panic" in Brooklyn slaying
A Brooklyn, N.Y., teenager has been indicted on murder charges for fatallystabbing a man because he was gay, Kings County prosecutors said Thursday.
Roberto Duncanson, 20, also of Brooklyn, died soon after the May 12 attack.
Alleged killer Omar Willock, 17, faces 25 years to life if convicted.
Willock and Duncanson passed each other on St. Marks Avenue in CrownHeights, and Willock became enraged, accusing Duncanson of looking at him,prosecutors said in a written statement. Duncanson continued walking to afriend's house as Willock shouted antigay remarks. It's unclear how Willockknew Duncanson was gay, prosecutors told the New York Daily News.
On his way home Duncanson again passed Willock, and Willock again beratedhim for his sexual orientation. Duncanson tried to walk away, but Willockcame after him, first with his fists and then with a knife.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-agender17jun17,0,593768,print.story
Law protects transgendered
New Jersey is 9th state banning discrimination.
By Geoff Mulvihill
The Associated Press
June 17, 2007
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. · Starting today, New Jersey joins eight other states inmaking it illegal for employers and landlords to discriminate againsttransgendered people.
The law, which sailed through the Legislature in December, has receivedlittle attention in a state that's gaining a reputation for being welcomingto lesbian, gay and transgendered people. Earlier this year, New Jerseybegan allowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness ofpeople who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. MaraKeisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equalityin Washington, said she expects more states to follow.
"It's really simply a reaction to there being more [transgender] people whoare out," Keisling said. "As more people transition, it becomes safer totransition."
The law makes it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant because of genderstatus, and companies cannot refuse to hire people because they aretranssexual, cross-dressers, asexual, of ambiguous gender or simply nottraditionally feminine or masculine. The law also bans discrimination incredit, business contracts and public accommodations such as stores orrestaurants.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/142981.html
Posted on Mon, Jun. 18, 2007
Florida's ex-felons get help on civil rights
BY ANDREA ROBINSON
Concerned that thousands of former felons will miss out on Florida's newclemency rules, the ACLU of Florida and several community groups will hostJuneteenth events around the state to reach out to men and women who mayqualify for accelerated restoration of their civil rights.
Juneteenth, observed in several U.S. states, is an unofficial holiday tomark June 19, 1865, when legend says slaves in Texas belatedly learned aboutPresident Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation -- morethan two years earlier.
Leaders of the ACLU's civil rights restoration project see a connectionbetween Juneteenth and their civil rights campaign. The reason: Just likethe Texas slaves, Florida ex-felons may learn of the clemency changes toolate.
Juneteenth volunteers will tell ex-felons how important it is to get theircurrent address to the corrections department. South Florida events arescheduled through the end of the month in Miami, Dania Beach, Belle Gladeand Fort Lauderdale.
So far, the state has granted restoration of rights without a hearing tomore than 15,500 former felons. But advocates fear many others who also areeligible don't know it because the state does not have up-to-date
information.
The new rules approved in April by Gov. Charlie Crist and the state ClemencyBoard set up a three-tiered classification system based on the severity ofthe crime.
Felons who have committed less violent crimes, like felony drug possession,will be able to avoid the cumbersome paperwork and lengthy hearing processnow in place.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061807jerusalem.htm
Jerusalem Anti-Gay Demonstration Turns Violent
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: June 18, 2007 - 7:00 am ET
(Jerusalem) Seven police officers were injured when members of anultra-Orthodox sect staging a rally Sunday night to protest this week's gaypride parade in Jerusalem began throwing rocks and stones at them.
More than 10,000 haredi took part in the rally, far fewer than the 100,000organizers had predicted would turn out. The sect had been given a policepermit for the rally - to let sect members vent their anger over a decisionto allow the gay parade to take place on Thursday.
An estimated 15,000 police were assigned to the haredi protest to ensurepublic safety.
Haredi rabbis reportedly whipped the crowd into a frenzy, calling gays eviland warning that the gay march would bring disaster on the holy city.
"Anyone who helps the evil will be judged," one rabbi told the crowd.
As the rally was dispersing younger haredi began throwing rocks and stonesat police.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061707toronto.htm
Toronto Aims To Be Gay Tourism Capital
by The Canadian Press
Posted: June 17, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Toronto, Ontario) Just days before Toronto kicks off its annual Pride Weekcelebrations the city's tourism board has announced it's going all out in aneffort to attract gay travelers from the United States.
Tourism Toronto said Friday it has launched a ``Gay Marketing AdvisoryGroup'' comprised of 12 local community leaders that will help sell the cityto foreigners.
``The gay travel market is one of the fastest-growing segments and is a $55billion industry. This represents a major opportunity for Toronto,'' saidDavid Whitaker, president and CEO of Tourism Toronto.
``Toronto offers a great deal to gay visitors, who tend to travel moreoften, stay longer and spend more in a destination.''
The tourism board said it has boosted its marketing budget designated to gaytravelers by 50 per cent to $300,000, targeting cities like New York,Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Plans include buying advertising in restaurants, bars and local gaypublications, as well as sponsoring events.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061607rosie.htm
Is Price Right For Rosie?
by The Associated Press
Posted: June 16, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Los Angeles, California) Bob Barker endorsed his friend Rosie O'Donnell asa possible successor on "The Price Is Right," although the newly retiredhost isn't sure CBS wants a woman to take over the game show.
"I believe they're going to have a meeting with Rosie," Barker saidbackstage Friday night at the Daytime Emmy Awards, where he won his 19thtrophy.
"She knows the show," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind she could do theshow. Now, whether they want a lady host, I don't know. I've never heardthat discussed. As far as I know, they've only auditioned men."
Barker said his friendship with O'Donnell goes back several years, when shehad him as a guest on her old daytime talk show.
"She told me she loved `The Price Is Right' and wanted to host it one day,"he recalled.
Among those mentioned as possible replacement hosts have been Todd Newton ofthe E! network, Mark Steines of "Entertainment Tonight," George Hamilton andJohn O'Hurley.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/17/wpoland117.xml
Daughter's adultery rocks moral crusader
By Hilary Davies, in Warsaw, Sunday Telegraph
A promise by Poland's president to restore Catholic values and purgecommunists from positions of power has been undermined by the revelationthat his married daughter became pregnant after an affair with the son of a communist spy.
The apparent gulf between President Lech Kaczynski's strict publicpronouncements and the relaxed behaviour of his daughter raised eyebrowsamong critics of his stern conservative administration.
The government, headed by the president's twin brother, Jaroslaw, alsostands accused of attempting to manipulate news coverage of the crisis."This shows an obvious dissonance between the kind of behaviour governmentexpects from its citizens and what is actually going on within their closestfamily," said Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, a member of the reformed communistparty, the SLD. "All those proclaimed Catholic 'truths' and sermons we'veheard from the government about how we should live, what marriage is, howmany children we should have, have taken a big slap from reality. Real lifeis much more complicated."
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Wilton Manors
“The Indy Lunch” series continues on Thursday, June 21 with Judge RobertLee, one of the first ‘out’ gay appointed judges in the State of Florida, asour speaker. The lunch will take place at Tropics Restaurant (2000 WiltonDrive, Wilton Manors) beginning at 12 Noon. The lunch will include a choiceof four courses (beef, chicken, veal, and a vegetarian alternative), a visitto the salad bar, a beverage, tax and gratuity and costs $25. If you wouldlike to attend call 954 536 7786 and please have your credit card to handwhen you call.
Robert Lee's life is truly an American success story. When his father walkedout on his Mexican-born mother Robert was seven years of age and his motherand grandmother were left to raise five children alone as well run theirMexican restaurants in Jacksonville. The whole family worked hard. By thetime Robert was eight or nine years of age he was preparing tortillas in therestaurants’ kitchens. After studying for a degree in education atJacksonville University he went on to study law in Gainesville. He old “TheIndependent” for a profile written about him some years ago that until hewent to law school he had never actually met a lawyer! After working atvarious jobs as a lawyer he applied to become a judge while still in histhirties. Lee was chosen from 40 applicants.
In 2000 Lee was thrown into the national spotlight when he chaired theElection Commission in Broward County at the time of the PresidentialElection and the result in Florida was on a knife edge.
Apart from his work on the bench he is active volunteering with theStonewall Library, he has taught Constitutional Law at Florida MetropolitanUniversity, and has seen more than 300 of his decisions published in “TheFlorida Law Weekly Supplement.” He also admits to being a Gators fan.
Dean Trantalis, a former Vice-Mayor of Fort Lauderdale and himself a awyer,described Robert Lee to "The Indy" as “a wonderful role model for ourcommunity. We’re very proud of him.”
If you would like to attend the lunch on Thursday, June 21 please call 954536 7786 ASAP. We look forward to having you join us.
Paul Harris
Publisher
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GaySports.com
http://www.gaysports.com/page.cfm?typeofsite=storydetail&ID=986&storyset=yes
Gay Australian Rugby Team Strips Down
By Dylan Vox
Australia's first gay Rugby Union team, the Sydney Convicts has found a newand highly exciting way to help them raise money to compete at the gay RugbyWorld Cup next year. The guys on the team have decided to strip down totheir bare butts and bits at the Rugger Bugger V party in Sydney and hope toraise enough money to make the trip to Dublin to defend their title.The convicts were formed in 2004 as a sort of make shift team with the goalof presenting an alternative image of gay men to both the mainstream and thegay community. They also hoped to make football accessible to those whowould otherwise be discouraged from playing rugby by perceived prejudice inthe mainstream football community.
Immediately the team took control of the field and began to win match aftermatch against established "straight" clubs and soon began to make a name orthemselves throughout the rugby community. They established the firstPurchas Cup named after Convicts founder Andrew "Fuzz" Purchas, which becamea successful competition in Australia.
=
National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/860/173/
Philharmonic, Ex-member Settle Anti-gay Complaint
Sunday, 17 June 2007 14:24
A discrimination complaint by a former Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestramusician who said he was fired after objecting to an anti-gay remark by afellow player has been settled.
Terms of the agreement between former second oboist J. Bud Roach andthe orchestra, which headed off a hearing scheduled for Monday at the stateDivision of Human Rights, were not disclosed.
Read More...
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/859/173/
Equality Forum Head Rebukes Dobbs
Lou Dobbs: The Pallor of Homophobia
By Malcolm Lazin
On his June 14 broadcast, CNN's Lou Dobbs claimed "a defeat for democracy"when the Massachusetts legislature decided not to authorize a voterreferendum on whether to ban same-sex marriage in the state's constitution.
As a regular viewer of Mr. Dobbs, I have not heard him opine when statelegislatures fail to approve other referenda as "a defeat for democracy."
Each state has a procedure to place a referendum on the ballot. This processprotects against an unfettered ability to have issues presented to votersthat lack adequate support. Under Massachusetts law, the support of 50legislators is required to place an issue before the voters. The vote inMassachusetts was 151 (77%) against this referendum and 45 (23%) in favor.
Contrary to Mr. Dobbs' belief, the vote was representative democracy inaction. The elected officials who cast ballots against the referendumincluded both Democrats and Republicans. Some legislators may have beenswayed by an April 2007 poll reported in The New York Times that found that56% of Massachusetts residents opposed amending the state constitution toprohibit same-sex marriage. In addition legislators may have found thereferendum divisive and a waste of time and resources.
Placing every issue before the voters for a referendum underminesrepresentative democracy. By making a stand for unfettered referendum, Mr.Dobbs's position is diminished by the pallor of homophobia.
Malcolm Lazin is the Executive Director of Equality Forum.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/858/173/
Gay Pub Slams John Travolta For Cross-Dressing Role
Sunday, 17 June 2007 13:44
A gay publication has called actor John Travolta a hypocrite for hiscross-dressing role in cult musical “Hairspray”, saying that it’s at oddswith his Scientologist beliefs.
According to Washington Blade journalist Kevin Naff, the “Pulp Fiction” actor's involvement with the movie is disingenuous.
Read More...
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/opinion/18mon1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
June 18, 2007
Editorial
Two Cheers on Global AIDS
Now that the Group of 8 industrialized nations has pledged to commit $60billion to combat AIDS and other diseases around the world in coming years —a substantial sum by any reckoning — Congress and other nationallegislatures ought to look hard for additional funds to close a looming gapbetween the funds committed and the needs of desperate patients.
The advanced nations — both the G-8 countries and other donor nations — havegreatly increased their funding for AIDS programs in recent years in belatedrecognition that the epidemic threatens to destroy not just its victims, butalso the social and economic fabric of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.We are pleased that President Bush has proposed spending some $30 billion tocombat AIDS abroad over a five-year period, from 2009 to 2013, but in truththat represents only a modest increase from the spending trajectory we werealready on. At its recent summit meeting, the Group of 8 pledged to commit$60 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria “over the coming years,”including the American contribution.
Yet even these pledges will not be enough to keep up with the devastatingepidemics. Tens of billions of dollars more will be needed to providetreatment, care and preventive services for AIDS alone over the next fiveyears.
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The New York Times
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/
June 14, 2007, 10:53 pm
Who’s for Hillary. And Who Isn’t.
Tags: authenticity, Hillary Clinton, the election
According to a Washington Post – ABC News poll published earlier this week,Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most consistent and enthusiastic female support isnow coming from high school graduates with incomes of less than $50,000 ayear. Young women like her best. Over age 45, college-educated,higher-earning women like her least. In fact, asked who they found most“honest,” “trustworthy” and “inspiring,” these women – Clinton’s peers –expressed more of a kinship with Barack Obama.
In a sense, none of this should really come as a surprise. Back in 2000,Clinton bonded like glue with middle class women in upstate New York – theyliked the way she came to speak with them and learned about their lives –but was a hard sell in the wealthy suburbs downstate.
“Non-college-educated women really like that she’s smart, that she’s a womanwho has worked for what she has, supported her family, kept her family lifeprivate and handled her marriage the way that she has; they’ve often madesimilar choices in their own lives,” says Celinda Lake, who has doneextensive polling on women’s attitudes toward Clinton since the time ofHillary’s first Senate race. “Upper-middle-class women are more judgmental.They see her as polarizing; they second-guess how she handled her personalissues. Non-college women react to this argument with: ‘They always say thisabout women. They always try to drag the woman down.’”
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Romneys-Surge.html?pagewanted=print
June 17, 2007
Romney Builds Support in Early States
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:45 p.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- Forget the national polls for Mitt Romney.
Slowly, methodically, the Republican presidential contender has seized theadvantage in the early states that count, relying on a solid organization,$4 million in advertising and an aggressive approach.
It's propelled him to the top of polls in the caucus and primary sites ofIowa and New Hampshire, and laid the foundation for what some analysts argueis greater success.
''Mitt Romney is now positioned as the front-runner for the nomination,''said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.''There's a long way to go, but to date he's running the most logical,thought-out, structured campaign. He's marching in the right cadence, he'sraising the money, he's spending it wiser and he seems to be on track.''
Romney continues to trail former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. JohnMcCain of Arizona and even former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee -- who hasyet to formally declare his candidacy -- in national polls of the Republicancontenders.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502078.html
We've Lost. Here's How To Handle It.
By Steven Simon and Ray Takeyh
Sunday, June 17, 2007; Page B01
Last week's bloodshed in Iraq and the bombing of what remained of thehistoric Shiite shrine in Samarra and of two Sunni mosques in Basra weremore reminders of a terrible truth: The war in Iraq is lost. The onlyquestion that remains -- for our gallant troops and our blinkeredpolicymakers -- is how to manage the inevitable. What the United Statesneeds now is a guide to how to lose -- how to start thinking aboutminimizing the damage done to American interests, saving lives andultimately wresting some good from this fiasco.
No longer can we avoid this bitter conclusion. Iraq's winner-take-allpolitics are increasingly vicious; there will be no open, pluralistic Iraqistate to take over from the United States. Iraq has no credible centralgovernment that U.S. forces can assist and no national army for them tofight alongside. U.S. troops can't beat the insurgency on their own; ourforces are too few and too isolated to compete with the insurgents for thepublic's support. Meanwhile, the country's militias have become a law untothemselves, and ethnic cleansing gallops forward.
But the most crucial reason why the war is lost is that the American peopledecisively rejected continuing U.S. military involvement last November.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46384.asp
06/16/07-06/18/07
Teen cites "gay panic" in Brooklyn slaying
A Brooklyn, N.Y., teenager has been indicted on murder charges for fatallystabbing a man because he was gay, Kings County prosecutors said Thursday.
Roberto Duncanson, 20, also of Brooklyn, died soon after the May 12 attack.
Alleged killer Omar Willock, 17, faces 25 years to life if convicted.
Willock and Duncanson passed each other on St. Marks Avenue in CrownHeights, and Willock became enraged, accusing Duncanson of looking at him,prosecutors said in a written statement. Duncanson continued walking to afriend's house as Willock shouted antigay remarks. It's unclear how Willockknew Duncanson was gay, prosecutors told the New York Daily News.
On his way home Duncanson again passed Willock, and Willock again beratedhim for his sexual orientation. Duncanson tried to walk away, but Willockcame after him, first with his fists and then with a knife.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-agender17jun17,0,593768,print.story
Law protects transgendered
New Jersey is 9th state banning discrimination.
By Geoff Mulvihill
The Associated Press
June 17, 2007
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. · Starting today, New Jersey joins eight other states inmaking it illegal for employers and landlords to discriminate againsttransgendered people.
The law, which sailed through the Legislature in December, has receivedlittle attention in a state that's gaining a reputation for being welcomingto lesbian, gay and transgendered people. Earlier this year, New Jerseybegan allowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness ofpeople who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. MaraKeisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equalityin Washington, said she expects more states to follow.
"It's really simply a reaction to there being more [transgender] people whoare out," Keisling said. "As more people transition, it becomes safer totransition."
The law makes it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant because of genderstatus, and companies cannot refuse to hire people because they aretranssexual, cross-dressers, asexual, of ambiguous gender or simply nottraditionally feminine or masculine. The law also bans discrimination incredit, business contracts and public accommodations such as stores orrestaurants.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/142981.html
Posted on Mon, Jun. 18, 2007
Florida's ex-felons get help on civil rights
BY ANDREA ROBINSON
Concerned that thousands of former felons will miss out on Florida's newclemency rules, the ACLU of Florida and several community groups will hostJuneteenth events around the state to reach out to men and women who mayqualify for accelerated restoration of their civil rights.
Juneteenth, observed in several U.S. states, is an unofficial holiday tomark June 19, 1865, when legend says slaves in Texas belatedly learned aboutPresident Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation -- morethan two years earlier.
Leaders of the ACLU's civil rights restoration project see a connectionbetween Juneteenth and their civil rights campaign. The reason: Just likethe Texas slaves, Florida ex-felons may learn of the clemency changes toolate.
Juneteenth volunteers will tell ex-felons how important it is to get theircurrent address to the corrections department. South Florida events arescheduled through the end of the month in Miami, Dania Beach, Belle Gladeand Fort Lauderdale.
So far, the state has granted restoration of rights without a hearing tomore than 15,500 former felons. But advocates fear many others who also areeligible don't know it because the state does not have up-to-date
information.
The new rules approved in April by Gov. Charlie Crist and the state ClemencyBoard set up a three-tiered classification system based on the severity ofthe crime.
Felons who have committed less violent crimes, like felony drug possession,will be able to avoid the cumbersome paperwork and lengthy hearing processnow in place.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061807jerusalem.htm
Jerusalem Anti-Gay Demonstration Turns Violent
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: June 18, 2007 - 7:00 am ET
(Jerusalem) Seven police officers were injured when members of anultra-Orthodox sect staging a rally Sunday night to protest this week's gaypride parade in Jerusalem began throwing rocks and stones at them.
More than 10,000 haredi took part in the rally, far fewer than the 100,000organizers had predicted would turn out. The sect had been given a policepermit for the rally - to let sect members vent their anger over a decisionto allow the gay parade to take place on Thursday.
An estimated 15,000 police were assigned to the haredi protest to ensurepublic safety.
Haredi rabbis reportedly whipped the crowd into a frenzy, calling gays eviland warning that the gay march would bring disaster on the holy city.
"Anyone who helps the evil will be judged," one rabbi told the crowd.
As the rally was dispersing younger haredi began throwing rocks and stonesat police.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061707toronto.htm
Toronto Aims To Be Gay Tourism Capital
by The Canadian Press
Posted: June 17, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Toronto, Ontario) Just days before Toronto kicks off its annual Pride Weekcelebrations the city's tourism board has announced it's going all out in aneffort to attract gay travelers from the United States.
Tourism Toronto said Friday it has launched a ``Gay Marketing AdvisoryGroup'' comprised of 12 local community leaders that will help sell the cityto foreigners.
``The gay travel market is one of the fastest-growing segments and is a $55billion industry. This represents a major opportunity for Toronto,'' saidDavid Whitaker, president and CEO of Tourism Toronto.
``Toronto offers a great deal to gay visitors, who tend to travel moreoften, stay longer and spend more in a destination.''
The tourism board said it has boosted its marketing budget designated to gaytravelers by 50 per cent to $300,000, targeting cities like New York,Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Plans include buying advertising in restaurants, bars and local gaypublications, as well as sponsoring events.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/06/061607rosie.htm
Is Price Right For Rosie?
by The Associated Press
Posted: June 16, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Los Angeles, California) Bob Barker endorsed his friend Rosie O'Donnell asa possible successor on "The Price Is Right," although the newly retiredhost isn't sure CBS wants a woman to take over the game show.
"I believe they're going to have a meeting with Rosie," Barker saidbackstage Friday night at the Daytime Emmy Awards, where he won his 19thtrophy.
"She knows the show," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind she could do theshow. Now, whether they want a lady host, I don't know. I've never heardthat discussed. As far as I know, they've only auditioned men."
Barker said his friendship with O'Donnell goes back several years, when shehad him as a guest on her old daytime talk show.
"She told me she loved `The Price Is Right' and wanted to host it one day,"he recalled.
Among those mentioned as possible replacement hosts have been Todd Newton ofthe E! network, Mark Steines of "Entertainment Tonight," George Hamilton andJohn O'Hurley.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/17/wpoland117.xml
Daughter's adultery rocks moral crusader
By Hilary Davies, in Warsaw, Sunday Telegraph
A promise by Poland's president to restore Catholic values and purgecommunists from positions of power has been undermined by the revelationthat his married daughter became pregnant after an affair with the son of a communist spy.
The apparent gulf between President Lech Kaczynski's strict publicpronouncements and the relaxed behaviour of his daughter raised eyebrowsamong critics of his stern conservative administration.
The government, headed by the president's twin brother, Jaroslaw, alsostands accused of attempting to manipulate news coverage of the crisis."This shows an obvious dissonance between the kind of behaviour governmentexpects from its citizens and what is actually going on within their closestfamily," said Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, a member of the reformed communistparty, the SLD. "All those proclaimed Catholic 'truths' and sermons we'veheard from the government about how we should live, what marriage is, howmany children we should have, have taken a big slap from reality. Real lifeis much more complicated."
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Wilton Manors
“The Indy Lunch” series continues on Thursday, June 21 with Judge RobertLee, one of the first ‘out’ gay appointed judges in the State of Florida, asour speaker. The lunch will take place at Tropics Restaurant (2000 WiltonDrive, Wilton Manors) beginning at 12 Noon. The lunch will include a choiceof four courses (beef, chicken, veal, and a vegetarian alternative), a visitto the salad bar, a beverage, tax and gratuity and costs $25. If you wouldlike to attend call 954 536 7786 and please have your credit card to handwhen you call.
Robert Lee's life is truly an American success story. When his father walkedout on his Mexican-born mother Robert was seven years of age and his motherand grandmother were left to raise five children alone as well run theirMexican restaurants in Jacksonville. The whole family worked hard. By thetime Robert was eight or nine years of age he was preparing tortillas in therestaurants’ kitchens. After studying for a degree in education atJacksonville University he went on to study law in Gainesville. He old “TheIndependent” for a profile written about him some years ago that until hewent to law school he had never actually met a lawyer! After working atvarious jobs as a lawyer he applied to become a judge while still in histhirties. Lee was chosen from 40 applicants.
In 2000 Lee was thrown into the national spotlight when he chaired theElection Commission in Broward County at the time of the PresidentialElection and the result in Florida was on a knife edge.
Apart from his work on the bench he is active volunteering with theStonewall Library, he has taught Constitutional Law at Florida MetropolitanUniversity, and has seen more than 300 of his decisions published in “TheFlorida Law Weekly Supplement.” He also admits to being a Gators fan.
Dean Trantalis, a former Vice-Mayor of Fort Lauderdale and himself a awyer,described Robert Lee to "The Indy" as “a wonderful role model for ourcommunity. We’re very proud of him.”
If you would like to attend the lunch on Thursday, June 21 please call 954536 7786 ASAP. We look forward to having you join us.
Paul Harris
Publisher
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Sunday, June 17, 2007
GLBT DIGEST June 17, 2007
**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.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/weekinreview/17laugh.html
Laugh Lines: Jay Leno
Published: June 17, 2007
JAY LENO
The Pentagon has admitted they once tried to develop a gay bomb - a bombthat would turn enemy soldiers gay. They said their goal was to turn theIraq war into a musical.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-dallas-mayor-election.html?pagewanted=print
June 16, 2007
Gay Candidate Loses Dallas Mayoral Election
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:27 p.m. ET
DALLAS (Reuters) - An openly gay candidate lost his bid on Saturday tobecome mayor of Dallas in a race that attracted wide attention because ofhis sexual orientation.
Councilman Ed Oakley lost to businessman Tom Leppert, who took 58 percent ofthe vote to Oakley's 42 percent, according to official returns. Oakley hadthe endorsement of the Democratic Party, while Leppert ran a nonpartisancampaign.
A victory by Oakley would have made him the first openly gay mayor of amajor U.S. city, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, aWashington-based gay rights group.
Neither candidate made an issue of Oakley's sexual orientation, althoughsome outside groups did.
One conservative group mounted a phone campaign against Oakley, mostly onthe grounds of his sexual orientation, while gay rights groups cheered hiscandidacy.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Transgender-Discrimination.html?pagewanted=print
June 16, 2007
N.J. Transgender Law to Go Into Effect
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:21 p.m. ET
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) -- Starting Sunday, New Jersey joins eight otherstates in making it illegal for employers and landlords to discriminateagainst transgendered people.
The law, which sailed through the Legislature in December, has receivedlittle attention in a state that's gaining a reputation for being welcomingto lesbian, gay and transgendered people. Earlier this year, New Jerseybegan allowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness ofpeople who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. MaraKeisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equalityin Washington, said she expects more states to follow, including a handfulin 2007 and 2008.
''It's really simply a reaction to there being more (transgender) people whoare out,'' Keisling said. ''As more people transition, it becomes safer totransition.''
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Baptist-Politics.html?pagewanted=print
June 16, 2007
Southern Baptist Split Over Politics
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:32 p.m. ET
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Folded into the Rev. Frank Page's wallet is a yellowscrap of paper with the date and time he is to speak with yet anotherRepublican candidate for the White House.
He already has visited one GOP front-runner over breakfast at a country cluband met another at the headquarters of a car dealership in his home state.
The South Carolina pastor seems taken aback by the attention, but heshouldn't be: He leads a large congregation in a state with an early primaryand is president of the 16.3 million-strong Southern Baptist Convention,perhaps the largest single bloc of evangelical voters and a must-haveRepublican constituency.
Page, in an interview at his denomination's annual meeting here last week,said he offers his thoughts about salvation to candidates but never anendorsement. And he talks to Democrats, too. He sees the political courtshipas a duty: The nation's leaders need to hear a Christian viewpoint, hebelieves.
But some Southern Baptists would rather stay out of politics altogether. Asmall but vocal number of pastors believe the denomination is too cozy withRepublicans and too political in general. By flirting with the lineseparating good citizenship and a grab for power, they say, a denominationalready experiencing flat membership risks alienating more people.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-sbconestate17jun17,0,7139276,print.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines
MONEY MATTERS
News to use - Planning for partners
Legal issues especially important for ensuring gay families' legacies
By Marshall Loeb
MarketWatch
June 17, 2007
Why is estate planning even more imperative for same-sex couples than forstraight spouses? "Gay couples don't have the tax and inheritance advantagesthat marriage conveys," says attorney Tanya Harvey, "so these benefits haveto be created through estate-planning documents."
Harvey, a Washington lawyer with the firm Bryan Cave, helps unmarriedcouples ensure that their partners and families will be provided for in theevent of illness or death. When it comes to estate planning, Harveyrecommends that gay families start by consulting a lawyer on three keyissues:
Power of attorney. Assigning your partner a power of attorney for healthcare is relatively simple, says lawyer Tanya Harvey, but it can save youmigraines in the long run. Most hospitals allow only family members relatedby blood or marriage to visit patients in critical care. If your companionhas a power of attorney, it guarantees admittance. It also gives him or hera voice in decisions about your care.
The pros and cons
of domestic partnership. Many couples living in states that recognizedomestic partners are eager to sign up, but Harvey cautions her clients toconsider the potential pitfalls. While domestic partnerships often convey avariety of inheritance, employment and tax benefits, they are difficult todissolve in some states. Disentangling yourself from a domestic partnershipis often as complicated and expensive as divorce.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=13075
Testing of people at high risk for AIDS suggested
Researcher says targeted testing would be more effective
BALTIMORE (AP) | Jun 15, 1:11 PM
Testing of high-risk people is the best way to find people who don't knowthey are infected with the AIDS virus, an epidemiologist at Hopkins said inan article published Friday.
Dr. David R. Holtgrave also says federal guidelines that call for routinetesting of all Americans ages 13-64 for the AIDS virus might not be aseffective.
Holtgrave is an epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School ofPublic Health. His article appears in PLoS Medicine, an online medicaljournal.
Under the government's new policy, Holtgrave estimated that $864 millionwould be spent in one year to diagnose nearly 57,000 new infections underthe government's new policy, assuming that one percent of those tested areinfected.
But 188,170 new infections could be identified for the same amount of moneyby focusing on drug treatment facilities, prisons and community healthcenters in high-risk neighborhoods. Those populations, Holtgrave wrote, havehigher risk of HIV than the population as a whole and less access to regularhealth care.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=6/14/07&end=6/18/07#13059
A gay dialogue
This month's Vanity Fair is dedicated to Africa - its struggles, itstriumphs, its beauty and its importance on the world stage in terms ofhistory (genetic and more modern), economics and human endurance. It's abrilliant premise for one of my favorite magazines, and I'm devouring ithungrily.
One of the articles is a conversation between Brad Pitt and Nobel PeacePrize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It's an engaging read, especiallybecause these two men, from such different places (age, ethnicity, culture,even continent), resonate in terms of their outlook on Africa, peace andhuman interaction.
Pitt slips in a wonderful bit about gay rights and Tutu responds as Ifigured he would - with grace, magnanimity and a call for peace.
"Pitt: So certainly discrimination has no place in Christianity. There's abig argument going on in America right now, on gay rights and equality.
Tutu: . I come from a situation where for a very long time people werediscriminated against, made to suffer for something about which they coulddo nothing - their ethnicity. We were made to suffer because we were notwhite. Then, for a very long time in our church, we didn't ordain women, andwe were penalizing a huge section of humanity for something about which theycould do nothing - their gender. And I'm glad that now the church haschanged all that. I'm glad that apartheid has ended. I could not for anypart of me be able to keep quiet, because people were being penalized,ostracized, treated as if they were less than human, because of somethingthey could do nothing to change - their sexual orientation. For me, I can'timagine the Lord that I worship, this Jesus Christ, actually concurring withthe persecution of a minority that is already being persecuted. The Jesuswho I worship is a Jesus who was forever on the side of those who were beingclobbered, and he got into trouble precisely because of that. Our church,the Anglican Church, is experiencing a very, very serious crisis. It is allto do with human sexuality. I think God is weeping. He is weeping that weshould be spending so much energy, time, resources on this subject at a timewhen the world is aching.
Pitt: I couldn't agree with you more. Thank you for saying that."
Finally, a voice of reason in a wilderness of insanity.
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http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-transgender.artjun15,0,2375838.story?track=rss
The Fact And Fiction Of Being Transgender
By REGINE LABOSSIERE
Courant Staff Writer
June 15 2007
A disgruntled playboy becomes a female fashion magazine editor. A rock starborn biologically male finds her true self. A boy is scripted freely addinga pair of girl's shoes to accessorize his outfit.
Transgender people have become the new go-to characters on television onsuch ABC shows as "Ugly Betty " and "All My Children" and the FX show "TheRiches." They also have become the topic of more news reports in recentmonths.
A Florida city manager is fired seemingly for disclosing he will have asex-change operation. A sports reporter in Los Angeles decides it's timeeveryone learns who she really is.
A sibling in the famous acting Arquette family has brought the strugglesthat a transgender person faces to the big screen in the documentary "AlexisArquette: She's My Brother," which made its debut this year at the TribecaFilm Festival. The documentary follows other indie favorites, such as "BoysDon't Cry" and "Transamerica," to bring lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender stories to the forefront.
Fiction and reality have mixed to bring an increasing presence in the mediaof transgender people in the past six months. This is all positive fortransgender individuals and society, say those who are active in thetransgender community.
Mara Keisling, executive director of National Center for TransgenderEquality, partially credits the Internet and medical advancements withallowing people to express themselves physically. That outlet, she says, hascreated a domino effect.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061600985_pf.html
More U.S. Episcopalians Look Abroad Amid Rift
Overseas Prelates Lead 200 to 250 Congregations
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 17, 2007; A03
The Anglican archbishop of Rwanda was first, then his counterpart inNigeria. Now Kenya's Anglican archbishop is taking a group of U.S. churchesunder his authority, and Uganda's archbishop may be next.
African and, to a lesser extent, Southeast Asian and Latin American prelatesare racing to appoint American bishops and to assume jurisdiction overcongregations that are leaving the Episcopal Church, particularly since itsconsecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.
So far, the heads, or primates, of Anglican provinces overseas have takenunder their wings 200 to 250 of the more than 7,000 congregations in theEpiscopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism. Among their gains are somelarge and wealthy congregations -- including several in Northern Virginia --that bring international prestige and a steady stream of donations.
The foreign influx is a consequence of the rift in the 2.3 million-memberU.S. church, and explanations of what it's really all about depend on whatside of that divide you're on, said the Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a professor ofworld mission and global Christianity at the Episcopal Divinity School inCambridge, Mass.
"It can either be read as the next step in a grand plan to replace theEpiscopal Church, or it can be read as a splintering of the conservativesand a competition for who is going to be the real leader of disaffected U.S.congregations," he said.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://washblade.com/2007/6-15/news/worldnews/10765.cfm
Should U.S. gay groups adopt a broader scope? GayRecent violence in Russia triggers criticism
By ELIZABETH PERRY
Friday, June 15, 2007
Violence at Gay Pride parades in Russia, Romania and Poland has some U.S.activists questioning the role both domestic and international gay rightsgroups should play in responding to similar incidents abroad in the future.
The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a U.S. basednon-profit, has issued press releases condemning the violence at Moscow GayPride protests for two years in a row and the most recent violence at aPride parade in Bucharest. It has also spoken out about numerousinternational incidents involving violence and discrimination directed atgays.
The group says it exists to provide assistance to gay rights groups invarious countries where discrimination persists through advocacy,documentation, coalition building, public education and technicalassistance, but some observers are questioning the effectiveness of thosemethods.
Moscow Pride organizer Nikolai Alekseev said he thinks IGLHRC will have noeffect on Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's decision to ban parades there. He saidIGLHRC turned down invitations to observe the last two parades because itdid not meet its fundraising goals.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
New from DIRELAND, June 16
A Letter from Rome:
ROME'S GAY PRIDE TODAY GETS GOVERNMENT ENDORSEMENT--SORT OF.....
The hugely successful Rome Gay Pride March today, which drew at least100,000 people, received an official endorsement from Prime MinisterRomano Prodi's cabinet earlier this week -- or did it? For an on-the-scene report on today's Rome Pride -- and the politics behind it -- from DIRELAND's Rome correspondent, veteran ex-pat journalist JudyHarris, click on:
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2007/06/letter_from_rom_1.html
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Elton John gig divides Ukrainians
By Helen Fawkes
BBC News, Kiev
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6757945.stm
Published: 2007/06/16 07:16:45 GMT
It is being billed as the biggest social event of the year in Ukraine.
Elton John is set to play a free concert in the capital Kiev to raiseawareness about HIV/Aids.
But his show has attracted some critics as there is widespread homophobia inUkraine.
This former Soviet republic has one of the fastest growing infection ratesin Europe.
There is a new case every 10 minutes, according to Ukraine's Anti-AidsFoundation.
Mega-stars do not often come to Kiev, so thousands are expected at the eventon Saturday night.
'Religious hatred'
A religious group has urged Ukrainians to boycott the event, describing itas blasphemous.
"We believe that gay people are responsible for spreading Aids," saysSvyatoslav Domalevsky from The Union of Orthodox Citizens of Ukraine.
"Elton John is gay and we don't want him promoting that kind of lifestylehere."
Despite the Western outlook of Ukraine's leader, it is a conservative andpredominantly Orthodox Christian country.
"Religion is responsible for a lot of the hatred people feel towards peoplelike me," says Petro Polyantsev, an HIV-positive gay rights activist.
"We live with stigma, discrimination and homophobia. We constantly fear thatwe may be attacked just for being gay."
Soviet legacy
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Gays demonstrate in Rome to demand rights for same-sex couples
The Associated Press / International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/16/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Gay-Rights.php
Saturday, June 16, 2007
ROME: Tens of thousands of gay rights activists marched through the streetsof Rome Saturday to demand legal rights for same-sex couples.
Carrying rainbow-colored flags, the demonstrators held banners criticizingthe Vatican, which under Pope Benedict XVI has been conducting a fiercecampaign to protect traditional marriage.
"More Freedom, Less Vatican," read one flag featuring a crossed-out St.Peter's Basilica. "Love Equals Family," said another one.
The Italian government has proposed a bill that would grant some legalrights to unmarried and same-sex couples, such as hospital visits andinheritance rights. The bill, which has angered the Vatican, stops short oflegalizing gay marriage, as was done in other European countries, such asSpain. It is yet to be taken up by parliament.
The "Gay Pride" march ended up in the same Rome piazza where a massive rallyin defense of the traditional family was held weeks ago.
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/news/localnews/3782.cfm
Commission approves Stonewall Library move
Gay library plans to relocate to ArtServe building on Sunrise by end of year
By PHIL LAPADULA
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Broward County Commission on June 12 unanimously approved StonewallLibrary's request to relocate to a building on Sunrise Boulevard thatcurrently houses ArtServe and a satellite branch of the county library.
Pending final approval from the Fort Lauderdale city attorney, the gaylibrary will be moving into a 4,300-square-foot space at 1300 E. SunriseBlvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Rutland said Stonewall officials are hoping tocomplete the move by the end of the year.
Rutland said he was encouraged by the nine-member county commission's strongendorsement of the move.
"It was quite a good meeting," Rutland said. "The commissioners spoke aboutthe value of Stonewall to the community."
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/news/localnews/3793.cfm
Ft. Lauderdale
Light University awards first degrees
School affiliated with Sunshine Cathedral has grown and received state recognition
By CANUTE KNOTT-MALCOLM
Friday, June 15, 2007
Light University, a school affiliated with the local Metropolitan CommunityChurch in Fort Lauderdale, awarded its first degrees on Sunday, June 10, ina ceremony at the MCC's Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.
The commencement exercises were held as a part of the regular 11 a.m.worship service at the predominately gay and lesbian church. They wereattended by leaders in the progressive religious movement, includingPatricia Mathis, a former cabinet official under President Jimmy Carter, whopresented an award to Express Editor Phil LaPadula at the event.
Four Light University graduates received degrees at various levels. Rev.Deacon Joel Slotnick and Jean Johnson received associates of appliedreligious studies, and the Rev. Deacon Marian Cavagnaro received a master'sof religious studies. The Right Rev. Grant Lynn Ford, who is pastor of theSunshine Cathedral, received a bachelor of religious studies and an honorarydoctor of humane letters for his services to the Sunshine Cathedral and toSouth Florida's gay and lesbian Christian community.
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/view/editorial/3785.cfm
'Multiple Choice' Mitt
GOP candidate is the worst kind of enemy: soulless and without ideology.
By Rod McCullom
Friday, June 15, 2007
NEW HAMPSHIRE'S SEASONED and no-nonsense voters have become a challenge toMitt Romney's presidential aspirations. First, the obvious: His poll numbershave flat-lined and there is a substantial lack of traction around theformer Republican governor from neighboring Massachusetts.
Compare this to the conservative man-crush that has engulfed fellow has-been(and official non-candidate) Fred Thompson. Second - and this is key -Romney's anti-gay credentials have gained some currency among so-called"values voters" outside of New England. Unfortunately for the airbrushedgazillionaire, the timing couldn't be worse in New Hampshire, which recentlybecame the first state to approve same-sex civil unions without the threatof a court order.
Case in point: Cynthia Fishi. Last week, when almost everyone else wastransfixed by the Paris Hilton three-ring circus, the New Hampshire motherconfronted Romney on the campaign trail.
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/view/letters/3794.cfm
Republicans show their disrespect for gay soldiers
Friday, June 15, 2007
At the CNN debate on June 3rd, every single one of the Democratic candidatesfor President said that it was time to join our ally, Great Britain, andallow gay men and women to serve openly in the military.
Two days later at their debate, every Republican said they want to maintainthe status quo of the federal government continuing to discriminate againstgay soldiers with the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." When asked thequestion, Gov. Mike Huckabee couldn't change the subject fast enough. Gov.Mitt Romney said there were "much bigger issues" than taking a few momentsto discuss the current lack of respect and dignity afforded to the gay menand women who put their lives on the line for their country.
Sen. John McCain was eloquent when he defended his immigration bill byfocusing on the Spanish-speaking soldiers who had died for our nation inboth Vietnam and Iraq. It's a shame he could not find the same compassionwhen discussing the military expulsions and forced closets for soldiers likeMarine Sgt. Eric Alva, who was one of the first American soldiers wounded inthe Iraq war, losing his right leg on March 21, 2003, the first day ofOperation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Alva revealed in a news conference earlierthis year that he is also a gay man.
MARC PAIGE
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46358.asp
06/16/07-06/18/07
S.F. Lutheran church to ordain noncelibate lesbian
A Lutheran congregation in San Francisco is scheduled to ordain an openlygay minister June 16 who is not celibate-a move that directly challenges theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America's policy of requiring lifelongcelibacy of its gay and lesbian clergy while imposing no such restrictionson heterosexuals. The ceremony will mark the third such challenge to thepolicy in eight months.
Dawn Roginski will be ordained at St. Francis Lutheran Church in an"extraordinary ordination" service. The ceremonies, which run outside theusual guidelines of Lutheran ordinations by certifying the credentials ofopenly identified sexual minorities, have been fashioned by the LutheranLesbian and Gay Ministries. Fourteen ECLA and two independent Lutherancongregations are now served by openly gay pastors who have gone through the"extraordinary candidacy project."
As it faces increased pressure to overturn the policy, ELCA will revisit theissue at its biennial assembly August 6-11 in Chicago. (The Advocate)
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/weekinreview/17laugh.html
Laugh Lines: Jay Leno
Published: June 17, 2007
JAY LENO
The Pentagon has admitted they once tried to develop a gay bomb - a bombthat would turn enemy soldiers gay. They said their goal was to turn theIraq war into a musical.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-dallas-mayor-election.html?pagewanted=print
June 16, 2007
Gay Candidate Loses Dallas Mayoral Election
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:27 p.m. ET
DALLAS (Reuters) - An openly gay candidate lost his bid on Saturday tobecome mayor of Dallas in a race that attracted wide attention because ofhis sexual orientation.
Councilman Ed Oakley lost to businessman Tom Leppert, who took 58 percent ofthe vote to Oakley's 42 percent, according to official returns. Oakley hadthe endorsement of the Democratic Party, while Leppert ran a nonpartisancampaign.
A victory by Oakley would have made him the first openly gay mayor of amajor U.S. city, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, aWashington-based gay rights group.
Neither candidate made an issue of Oakley's sexual orientation, althoughsome outside groups did.
One conservative group mounted a phone campaign against Oakley, mostly onthe grounds of his sexual orientation, while gay rights groups cheered hiscandidacy.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Transgender-Discrimination.html?pagewanted=print
June 16, 2007
N.J. Transgender Law to Go Into Effect
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:21 p.m. ET
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) -- Starting Sunday, New Jersey joins eight otherstates in making it illegal for employers and landlords to discriminateagainst transgendered people.
The law, which sailed through the Legislature in December, has receivedlittle attention in a state that's gaining a reputation for being welcomingto lesbian, gay and transgendered people. Earlier this year, New Jerseybegan allowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness ofpeople who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. MaraKeisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equalityin Washington, said she expects more states to follow, including a handfulin 2007 and 2008.
''It's really simply a reaction to there being more (transgender) people whoare out,'' Keisling said. ''As more people transition, it becomes safer totransition.''
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Baptist-Politics.html?pagewanted=print
June 16, 2007
Southern Baptist Split Over Politics
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:32 p.m. ET
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Folded into the Rev. Frank Page's wallet is a yellowscrap of paper with the date and time he is to speak with yet anotherRepublican candidate for the White House.
He already has visited one GOP front-runner over breakfast at a country cluband met another at the headquarters of a car dealership in his home state.
The South Carolina pastor seems taken aback by the attention, but heshouldn't be: He leads a large congregation in a state with an early primaryand is president of the 16.3 million-strong Southern Baptist Convention,perhaps the largest single bloc of evangelical voters and a must-haveRepublican constituency.
Page, in an interview at his denomination's annual meeting here last week,said he offers his thoughts about salvation to candidates but never anendorsement. And he talks to Democrats, too. He sees the political courtshipas a duty: The nation's leaders need to hear a Christian viewpoint, hebelieves.
But some Southern Baptists would rather stay out of politics altogether. Asmall but vocal number of pastors believe the denomination is too cozy withRepublicans and too political in general. By flirting with the lineseparating good citizenship and a grab for power, they say, a denominationalready experiencing flat membership risks alienating more people.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-sbconestate17jun17,0,7139276,print.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines
MONEY MATTERS
News to use - Planning for partners
Legal issues especially important for ensuring gay families' legacies
By Marshall Loeb
MarketWatch
June 17, 2007
Why is estate planning even more imperative for same-sex couples than forstraight spouses? "Gay couples don't have the tax and inheritance advantagesthat marriage conveys," says attorney Tanya Harvey, "so these benefits haveto be created through estate-planning documents."
Harvey, a Washington lawyer with the firm Bryan Cave, helps unmarriedcouples ensure that their partners and families will be provided for in theevent of illness or death. When it comes to estate planning, Harveyrecommends that gay families start by consulting a lawyer on three keyissues:
Power of attorney. Assigning your partner a power of attorney for healthcare is relatively simple, says lawyer Tanya Harvey, but it can save youmigraines in the long run. Most hospitals allow only family members relatedby blood or marriage to visit patients in critical care. If your companionhas a power of attorney, it guarantees admittance. It also gives him or hera voice in decisions about your care.
The pros and cons
of domestic partnership. Many couples living in states that recognizedomestic partners are eager to sign up, but Harvey cautions her clients toconsider the potential pitfalls. While domestic partnerships often convey avariety of inheritance, employment and tax benefits, they are difficult todissolve in some states. Disentangling yourself from a domestic partnershipis often as complicated and expensive as divorce.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=13075
Testing of people at high risk for AIDS suggested
Researcher says targeted testing would be more effective
BALTIMORE (AP) | Jun 15, 1:11 PM
Testing of high-risk people is the best way to find people who don't knowthey are infected with the AIDS virus, an epidemiologist at Hopkins said inan article published Friday.
Dr. David R. Holtgrave also says federal guidelines that call for routinetesting of all Americans ages 13-64 for the AIDS virus might not be aseffective.
Holtgrave is an epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School ofPublic Health. His article appears in PLoS Medicine, an online medicaljournal.
Under the government's new policy, Holtgrave estimated that $864 millionwould be spent in one year to diagnose nearly 57,000 new infections underthe government's new policy, assuming that one percent of those tested areinfected.
But 188,170 new infections could be identified for the same amount of moneyby focusing on drug treatment facilities, prisons and community healthcenters in high-risk neighborhoods. Those populations, Holtgrave wrote, havehigher risk of HIV than the population as a whole and less access to regularhealth care.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=6/14/07&end=6/18/07#13059
A gay dialogue
This month's Vanity Fair is dedicated to Africa - its struggles, itstriumphs, its beauty and its importance on the world stage in terms ofhistory (genetic and more modern), economics and human endurance. It's abrilliant premise for one of my favorite magazines, and I'm devouring ithungrily.
One of the articles is a conversation between Brad Pitt and Nobel PeacePrize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It's an engaging read, especiallybecause these two men, from such different places (age, ethnicity, culture,even continent), resonate in terms of their outlook on Africa, peace andhuman interaction.
Pitt slips in a wonderful bit about gay rights and Tutu responds as Ifigured he would - with grace, magnanimity and a call for peace.
"Pitt: So certainly discrimination has no place in Christianity. There's abig argument going on in America right now, on gay rights and equality.
Tutu: . I come from a situation where for a very long time people werediscriminated against, made to suffer for something about which they coulddo nothing - their ethnicity. We were made to suffer because we were notwhite. Then, for a very long time in our church, we didn't ordain women, andwe were penalizing a huge section of humanity for something about which theycould do nothing - their gender. And I'm glad that now the church haschanged all that. I'm glad that apartheid has ended. I could not for anypart of me be able to keep quiet, because people were being penalized,ostracized, treated as if they were less than human, because of somethingthey could do nothing to change - their sexual orientation. For me, I can'timagine the Lord that I worship, this Jesus Christ, actually concurring withthe persecution of a minority that is already being persecuted. The Jesuswho I worship is a Jesus who was forever on the side of those who were beingclobbered, and he got into trouble precisely because of that. Our church,the Anglican Church, is experiencing a very, very serious crisis. It is allto do with human sexuality. I think God is weeping. He is weeping that weshould be spending so much energy, time, resources on this subject at a timewhen the world is aching.
Pitt: I couldn't agree with you more. Thank you for saying that."
Finally, a voice of reason in a wilderness of insanity.
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http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-transgender.artjun15,0,2375838.story?track=rss
The Fact And Fiction Of Being Transgender
By REGINE LABOSSIERE
Courant Staff Writer
June 15 2007
A disgruntled playboy becomes a female fashion magazine editor. A rock starborn biologically male finds her true self. A boy is scripted freely addinga pair of girl's shoes to accessorize his outfit.
Transgender people have become the new go-to characters on television onsuch ABC shows as "Ugly Betty " and "All My Children" and the FX show "TheRiches." They also have become the topic of more news reports in recentmonths.
A Florida city manager is fired seemingly for disclosing he will have asex-change operation. A sports reporter in Los Angeles decides it's timeeveryone learns who she really is.
A sibling in the famous acting Arquette family has brought the strugglesthat a transgender person faces to the big screen in the documentary "AlexisArquette: She's My Brother," which made its debut this year at the TribecaFilm Festival. The documentary follows other indie favorites, such as "BoysDon't Cry" and "Transamerica," to bring lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender stories to the forefront.
Fiction and reality have mixed to bring an increasing presence in the mediaof transgender people in the past six months. This is all positive fortransgender individuals and society, say those who are active in thetransgender community.
Mara Keisling, executive director of National Center for TransgenderEquality, partially credits the Internet and medical advancements withallowing people to express themselves physically. That outlet, she says, hascreated a domino effect.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061600985_pf.html
More U.S. Episcopalians Look Abroad Amid Rift
Overseas Prelates Lead 200 to 250 Congregations
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 17, 2007; A03
The Anglican archbishop of Rwanda was first, then his counterpart inNigeria. Now Kenya's Anglican archbishop is taking a group of U.S. churchesunder his authority, and Uganda's archbishop may be next.
African and, to a lesser extent, Southeast Asian and Latin American prelatesare racing to appoint American bishops and to assume jurisdiction overcongregations that are leaving the Episcopal Church, particularly since itsconsecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.
So far, the heads, or primates, of Anglican provinces overseas have takenunder their wings 200 to 250 of the more than 7,000 congregations in theEpiscopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism. Among their gains are somelarge and wealthy congregations -- including several in Northern Virginia --that bring international prestige and a steady stream of donations.
The foreign influx is a consequence of the rift in the 2.3 million-memberU.S. church, and explanations of what it's really all about depend on whatside of that divide you're on, said the Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a professor ofworld mission and global Christianity at the Episcopal Divinity School inCambridge, Mass.
"It can either be read as the next step in a grand plan to replace theEpiscopal Church, or it can be read as a splintering of the conservativesand a competition for who is going to be the real leader of disaffected U.S.congregations," he said.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://washblade.com/2007/6-15/news/worldnews/10765.cfm
Should U.S. gay groups adopt a broader scope? GayRecent violence in Russia triggers criticism
By ELIZABETH PERRY
Friday, June 15, 2007
Violence at Gay Pride parades in Russia, Romania and Poland has some U.S.activists questioning the role both domestic and international gay rightsgroups should play in responding to similar incidents abroad in the future.
The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a U.S. basednon-profit, has issued press releases condemning the violence at Moscow GayPride protests for two years in a row and the most recent violence at aPride parade in Bucharest. It has also spoken out about numerousinternational incidents involving violence and discrimination directed atgays.
The group says it exists to provide assistance to gay rights groups invarious countries where discrimination persists through advocacy,documentation, coalition building, public education and technicalassistance, but some observers are questioning the effectiveness of thosemethods.
Moscow Pride organizer Nikolai Alekseev said he thinks IGLHRC will have noeffect on Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's decision to ban parades there. He saidIGLHRC turned down invitations to observe the last two parades because itdid not meet its fundraising goals.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
New from DIRELAND, June 16
A Letter from Rome:
ROME'S GAY PRIDE TODAY GETS GOVERNMENT ENDORSEMENT--SORT OF.....
The hugely successful Rome Gay Pride March today, which drew at least100,000 people, received an official endorsement from Prime MinisterRomano Prodi's cabinet earlier this week -- or did it? For an on-the-scene report on today's Rome Pride -- and the politics behind it -- from DIRELAND's Rome correspondent, veteran ex-pat journalist JudyHarris, click on:
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2007/06/letter_from_rom_1.html
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Elton John gig divides Ukrainians
By Helen Fawkes
BBC News, Kiev
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6757945.stm
Published: 2007/06/16 07:16:45 GMT
It is being billed as the biggest social event of the year in Ukraine.
Elton John is set to play a free concert in the capital Kiev to raiseawareness about HIV/Aids.
But his show has attracted some critics as there is widespread homophobia inUkraine.
This former Soviet republic has one of the fastest growing infection ratesin Europe.
There is a new case every 10 minutes, according to Ukraine's Anti-AidsFoundation.
Mega-stars do not often come to Kiev, so thousands are expected at the eventon Saturday night.
'Religious hatred'
A religious group has urged Ukrainians to boycott the event, describing itas blasphemous.
"We believe that gay people are responsible for spreading Aids," saysSvyatoslav Domalevsky from The Union of Orthodox Citizens of Ukraine.
"Elton John is gay and we don't want him promoting that kind of lifestylehere."
Despite the Western outlook of Ukraine's leader, it is a conservative andpredominantly Orthodox Christian country.
"Religion is responsible for a lot of the hatred people feel towards peoplelike me," says Petro Polyantsev, an HIV-positive gay rights activist.
"We live with stigma, discrimination and homophobia. We constantly fear thatwe may be attacked just for being gay."
Soviet legacy
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Gays demonstrate in Rome to demand rights for same-sex couples
The Associated Press / International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/16/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Gay-Rights.php
Saturday, June 16, 2007
ROME: Tens of thousands of gay rights activists marched through the streetsof Rome Saturday to demand legal rights for same-sex couples.
Carrying rainbow-colored flags, the demonstrators held banners criticizingthe Vatican, which under Pope Benedict XVI has been conducting a fiercecampaign to protect traditional marriage.
"More Freedom, Less Vatican," read one flag featuring a crossed-out St.Peter's Basilica. "Love Equals Family," said another one.
The Italian government has proposed a bill that would grant some legalrights to unmarried and same-sex couples, such as hospital visits andinheritance rights. The bill, which has angered the Vatican, stops short oflegalizing gay marriage, as was done in other European countries, such asSpain. It is yet to be taken up by parliament.
The "Gay Pride" march ended up in the same Rome piazza where a massive rallyin defense of the traditional family was held weeks ago.
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/news/localnews/3782.cfm
Commission approves Stonewall Library move
Gay library plans to relocate to ArtServe building on Sunrise by end of year
By PHIL LAPADULA
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Broward County Commission on June 12 unanimously approved StonewallLibrary's request to relocate to a building on Sunrise Boulevard thatcurrently houses ArtServe and a satellite branch of the county library.
Pending final approval from the Fort Lauderdale city attorney, the gaylibrary will be moving into a 4,300-square-foot space at 1300 E. SunriseBlvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Rutland said Stonewall officials are hoping tocomplete the move by the end of the year.
Rutland said he was encouraged by the nine-member county commission's strongendorsement of the move.
"It was quite a good meeting," Rutland said. "The commissioners spoke aboutthe value of Stonewall to the community."
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/news/localnews/3793.cfm
Ft. Lauderdale
Light University awards first degrees
School affiliated with Sunshine Cathedral has grown and received state recognition
By CANUTE KNOTT-MALCOLM
Friday, June 15, 2007
Light University, a school affiliated with the local Metropolitan CommunityChurch in Fort Lauderdale, awarded its first degrees on Sunday, June 10, ina ceremony at the MCC's Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.
The commencement exercises were held as a part of the regular 11 a.m.worship service at the predominately gay and lesbian church. They wereattended by leaders in the progressive religious movement, includingPatricia Mathis, a former cabinet official under President Jimmy Carter, whopresented an award to Express Editor Phil LaPadula at the event.
Four Light University graduates received degrees at various levels. Rev.Deacon Joel Slotnick and Jean Johnson received associates of appliedreligious studies, and the Rev. Deacon Marian Cavagnaro received a master'sof religious studies. The Right Rev. Grant Lynn Ford, who is pastor of theSunshine Cathedral, received a bachelor of religious studies and an honorarydoctor of humane letters for his services to the Sunshine Cathedral and toSouth Florida's gay and lesbian Christian community.
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/view/editorial/3785.cfm
'Multiple Choice' Mitt
GOP candidate is the worst kind of enemy: soulless and without ideology.
By Rod McCullom
Friday, June 15, 2007
NEW HAMPSHIRE'S SEASONED and no-nonsense voters have become a challenge toMitt Romney's presidential aspirations. First, the obvious: His poll numbershave flat-lined and there is a substantial lack of traction around theformer Republican governor from neighboring Massachusetts.
Compare this to the conservative man-crush that has engulfed fellow has-been(and official non-candidate) Fred Thompson. Second - and this is key -Romney's anti-gay credentials have gained some currency among so-called"values voters" outside of New England. Unfortunately for the airbrushedgazillionaire, the timing couldn't be worse in New Hampshire, which recentlybecame the first state to approve same-sex civil unions without the threatof a court order.
Case in point: Cynthia Fishi. Last week, when almost everyone else wastransfixed by the Paris Hilton three-ring circus, the New Hampshire motherconfronted Romney on the campaign trail.
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/6-15/view/letters/3794.cfm
Republicans show their disrespect for gay soldiers
Friday, June 15, 2007
At the CNN debate on June 3rd, every single one of the Democratic candidatesfor President said that it was time to join our ally, Great Britain, andallow gay men and women to serve openly in the military.
Two days later at their debate, every Republican said they want to maintainthe status quo of the federal government continuing to discriminate againstgay soldiers with the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." When asked thequestion, Gov. Mike Huckabee couldn't change the subject fast enough. Gov.Mitt Romney said there were "much bigger issues" than taking a few momentsto discuss the current lack of respect and dignity afforded to the gay menand women who put their lives on the line for their country.
Sen. John McCain was eloquent when he defended his immigration bill byfocusing on the Spanish-speaking soldiers who had died for our nation inboth Vietnam and Iraq. It's a shame he could not find the same compassionwhen discussing the military expulsions and forced closets for soldiers likeMarine Sgt. Eric Alva, who was one of the first American soldiers wounded inthe Iraq war, losing his right leg on March 21, 2003, the first day ofOperation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Alva revealed in a news conference earlierthis year that he is also a gay man.
MARC PAIGE
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46358.asp
06/16/07-06/18/07
S.F. Lutheran church to ordain noncelibate lesbian
A Lutheran congregation in San Francisco is scheduled to ordain an openlygay minister June 16 who is not celibate-a move that directly challenges theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America's policy of requiring lifelongcelibacy of its gay and lesbian clergy while imposing no such restrictionson heterosexuals. The ceremony will mark the third such challenge to thepolicy in eight months.
Dawn Roginski will be ordained at St. Francis Lutheran Church in an"extraordinary ordination" service. The ceremonies, which run outside theusual guidelines of Lutheran ordinations by certifying the credentials ofopenly identified sexual minorities, have been fashioned by the LutheranLesbian and Gay Ministries. Fourteen ECLA and two independent Lutherancongregations are now served by openly gay pastors who have gone through the"extraordinary candidacy project."
As it faces increased pressure to overturn the policy, ELCA will revisit theissue at its biennial assembly August 6-11 in Chicago. (The Advocate)
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